We all know the horror stories of amputated toes or feet from diabetic patients. Indeed, this happened a lot in the past and still happens to older patients who have had diabetes for a long time. This is what’s called a diabetic foot. Diabetes care was not as good back then as it is now. The treatments are better, but it is important to take good care of your feet because they’re much more vulnerable when you have diabetes.

How come?

If you have diabetes, you can have circulation problems, which cause the veins in your feet to clog up. High blood sugar levels can damage the nerves in your feet, causing reduced feeling. You may not feel small wounds in your feet, causing them to get infected. Bad circulation also leads to a slowing of the healing process. In the more extreme cases, this can lead to amputation. But if you take good care of your feet and get checked for cuts or skin damage, you can avoid this. A diabetes nurse can tell you more about this.

Tips

What can you do to be good to your feet? First, you should keep them clean and dry, and wear good-fitting shoes and clean socks. Make sure to change your shoes frequently so that you’re not always applying pressure in the same place. Good shoes are important but don’t feel like you always need to wear orthopaedic sandals when you go out either. You can wear nice shoes, so long as you take them off if they start hurting.