subject: Diabetics- Maintain Regular Podiatric Visits For Optimal Care [print this page] Diabetes is a systemic disease that affects different parts of a person's body. Today, it is estimated that eight million people in the United States that suffer from diabetes deal with various foot problems-sometimes leading to amputation. Common problems will include infection, ulceration, or gangrene that may lead to, in severe cases, the amputation of a toe, foot, or even leg. Most of these complications are preventable with proper care and regular visits to your podiatrist in Portage Park. If you are diabetic, understanding how to properly care for your feet can mean the difference between keeping and losing a toe, or foot.
What Causes Various Foot Complications in Diabetics?
If you have diabetes, foot problems usually are the result of three primary factors: neuropathy, poor circulation, and decreased resistance to infection. Foot deformities can also play a major role in causing ulcerations and infections in the presence of neuropathy or poor circulation. Neuropathy is when your ability to detect sensations or vibration is diminished. This allows injuries to remain unnoticed and untreated for lengthy periods of time. Neuropathy may cause burning or sharp pains in the feet and interfere with your sleep.
Poor circulation can cause cramping in the calf or buttocks when walking. The symptoms can gradually progress into severe cramping or pain at rest, with associated color and temperature changes, as well. Also, your skin may become shiny, thinned and easily damaged. Lastly, if you are diabetic, you are generally more prone to infections than those who do not suffer from this disease. Due to deficiencies in the ability of white blood cells to defend against invading bacteria, diabetics have more difficulty in dealing with and mounting an immune response to the infection.
Practicing Proper Prevention
If you have diabetes it is important to inspect your feet every day. If you get a foot injury, seek care from your podiatrist immediately. You can prevent many severe foot problems by following simple steps beginning with proper prevention.
Your podiatrist should perform a complete foot exam annually or more often if you are prone to foot problems. If you have cuts or breaks in your skin, or an ingrown toenail, it is important to let your podiatrist know because these can potentially turn into more serious foot problems.
There are several different things that you can do to keep your feet healthy and safe. Some important things that you can do to help protect your feet can include:
*Take care of your diabetes
*Check your feet on a daily basis
*Remain active to keep the blood flowing to your feet
*Wash your feet every day
*Keep your skin smooth and soft
*Trim your toenails carefully and neatly
*Wear shoes and socks at all times
*Protect your feet from hot and cold
People with diabetes should be fully aware of how to prevent foot problems before they happen, to recognize problems early, and to seek the right treatment when problems do occur.
Participate in Medicare's Diabetic Shoe Program
In an effort to prevent foot ulcers in people with diabetes who are at risk, Medicare will help pay for your therapeutic shoes. For those who qualify, Medicare will pay 80% of the allowed amount for one pair of shoes and up to three pairs of molded innersoles per year, while most secondary insurers will help pay the other 20%. Not everyone with diabetes needs special shoes. To qualify, you must be under a comprehensive diabetes treatment plan and have one or more of the following:
*Partial or complete amputation of the foot
*Previous foot ulceration
*History of preulcerative callus
*Peripheral neuropathy with evidence of callus formation
*Foot deformity
*Poor circulation
Talk to your Portage Park podiatrist for further diagnosis and treatment for your diabetes.
