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Foot Care

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TIPS FOR PEOPLE WITH DIABETES

High blood sugars from diabetes can cause:

  • Nerve damage in legs and feet. People with damaged nerves might not feel pain, heat, or cold in their legs and feet. A sore or cut on the foot may get infected because you do not know it is there. This lack of feeling is caused by nerve damage called diabetic neuropathy. 

  • Poor blood flow. Poor blood flow makes it hard for a sore or infection to heal. This problem is called peripheral vascular disease (PVD). People with diabetes who smoke make blood flow problems much worse.

The combination of these two problems can result in damage to your feet. For example, if you get a blister from ill-fitting shoes, you might not feel the pain from the blister because you have nerve damage in your foot. Next, the blister can get infected. If your blood sugar is high, the extra sugar feeds the germs. Germs can grow, and the infection can get worse. Poor blood flow to the legs and feet can slow down healing.

Once in a while, a bad infection has difficulty healing. The infection might cause gangrene, which is when the skin and tissue around the sore dies. To keep gangrene from spreading, a healthcare professional may have to do surgery to cut off a toe, foot, or part of a leg. This is called amputation.

HOW TO TAKE CARE OF YOUR FEET

HOW YOUR HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL CAN HELP

  • Call a healthcare professional if you have signs of infection, such as warm and red skin or fluid or pus draining out of a footsore. If you cannot see someone within 1 or 2 days, go to urgent care or an emergency facility.

  • Ask a healthcare professional to examine your feet at least once per year. 

  • Ask what lotion or cream to use on your legs and feet.

  • If you cannot cut your toenails or have a foot problem, ask a healthcare provider to recommend a podiatrist (foot doctor).

  • Ask your healthcare provider about special shoes can be made to fit softly around your sore feet or feet that have changed shape.

 

  HOW CARE PARTNERS CAN HELP

  • Remember, people with diabetes need to take new concerns with their feet seriously. New foot problems need to be checked by their healthcare professional, even if they are not painful.

  • Help your partner contact their healthcare professional if they have a new foot issue or if they have signs of infection like warm and red skin, or fluid or pus draining out of a footsore.

  • Suggest that your partner apply over-the-counter antibiotic ointment to the sore and wear comfortable socks and shoes that keep pressure off the area until they can get it checked.