HOW DIABETES AFFECTS FEET
Feet are supplied with blood to keep them healthy and have a large number of nerves to detect pain and act as an early warning system for potential injury. For example, if you have a stone in your shoe, nerves will send a message to your brain to remove the stone and hence prevent injury to the feet. However, if your diabetes is poorly controlled for a long period of time it may result in nerve damage.
Nerve damage, termed peripheral neuropathy, which reduce sensation to the feet and / or reduce blood supply as damage to the blood vessels occurs.
Nerve damage may mean that you no longer notice small objects like a stone in your shoe, due to loss of sensation to your feet. This could then lead to a wound or injury that you cannot feel, and a possible infection.
If you have poor circulation, any injuries or infections to your feet, even seemingly minor, will take longer to heal as there is less blood flowing into the arteries in your feet.
Blood provides energy to working muscles and aids in healing damaged or injured tissue. If you have poor circulation, you will need to take extra care to protect your feet from injury. Most foot problems in people who have diabetes occur when injuries, and often infections, go unnoticed and untreated, and when healing is delayed due to poor circulation.
HOW CAN LEFORT PODIATRY HELP?
- Having your feet checked every six months by a podiatrist will help detect changes early to minimise the chances of problems occurring. A diabetic foot assessment involves:
- Examining the circulation by feeling foot pulses and sometimes listening with a small hand held machine called a doppler
- Examining the nerves supplying your feet by testing your ability to detect vibration and light pressure as well as testing your reflexes
- Checking for any problems with foot posture that may be creating areas of excessive pressure in the form of corns and callous that may have the potential to develop into an ulcer
- Examining your footwear to ensure they are suitable
- Ensuring that there are no other problems with nail
- Determining what level of risk (high, moderate or low) you may be for developing foot problems related to diabetes and whether you need to be reviewed at closer intervals
