Foot care is extremely important for people with diabetes. There are many foot problems associated with diabetes. Poor blood sugar control and just long term effects of the disease can cause peripheral neuropathy, which can lead to the diabetic patient to loose feeling in their foot or leg. Also, the disease makes healing much slower. So infections and sores are much more serious.
Foot Checks
For these reasons, diabetics must take care to control their blood sugar and regularly check their feet. By regularly, I mean daily. Any changes need to be watched carefully and a trip to the doctor is often warranted for any changes. A trip to your friendly local podiatrist is in order at least every six months.
One of the things that can be caught before it causes a problem is dry feet. Dry feet can be problematic because when one’s feet are very dry, the skin can crack and create openings for bacteria to enter the skin. Due to the slow healing and sometimes lack of feeling, these infections can be quite serious for people with diabetes. It can be so serious that it can lead to amputation.
Five steps to take to help your feet from getting too dry
1. Moisturize your feet daily. If they are dry you might want to try a product like Aquaphor, Kerasal, or Amlactin. These products contain ingredients that will help extremely dry skin. If you have dry skin and these products are not helping, your friendly local podiatrist can give you a prescription medication. If you have read this blog frequently, you know that my favorite dry foot remedy is to put lots of lotion or cream on my feet and put on old loose white socks and sleep that way. Doing that lets the moisture soak in all night.
2. Make sure that after you bathe, you take the time to dry your feet. Dry in between your toes and make sure there isn’t any moisture being trapped in your socks from damp feet. The dampness can allow fungus and bacteria to grow. The dampness can weaken your skin and leave you more prone to infection.
3. If your feet sweat a lot, you might want to make sure that you wear wicking socks that pull the moisture away from your feet. You want to keep your feet as dry as possible.
4. Don’t wear the same shoes every day. Give your shoes a chance to dry out by not wearing the same pair over and over. Have at least two pairs that you can switch so that you wear one of the pairs every other day.
5. You can use a pumice stone when you bathe to rub off the dry skin and keep the skin fresh.
It is very important when you have diabetes that you really take care of your feet. Do go see the doctor semi-annually and check your feet daily. As difficult as it is, controlling your blood sugar will make a huge difference in how diabetes affects your body.
Your Pal,
Foot Blogger Chick
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