How do you know if diabetes is affecting your feet?

How do you know if diabetes is affecting your feet?

Tingling, burning, or pain in your feet. Loss of sense of touch or ability to feel heat or cold very well. A change in the shape of your feet over time. Loss of hair on your toes, feet, and lower legs.

What kind of feet problems do diabetics have?

People with diabetes have an increased risk of ulcers and damage to the feet. Diabetic foot problems also include bunions, corns, calluses, hammertoes, fungal infections, dryness of the skin, and ingrown toenails.

What part of the foot hurts with diabetes?

Diabetic foot pain is mainly due to a condition called peripheral neuropathy. Approximately 50\% of people who have type 2 diabetes will develop peripheral neuropathy, which happens when high blood sugar levels cause damage to the nerves in the legs and the feet.

How does diabetes affect the feet and legs?

Having diabetes can damage the nerves and blood vessels that supply your legs and feet. This puts affected people at increased risk of developing ulcers on the feet and legs which can become infected, and in the worst cases, develop gangrene (where the tissue dies, resulting in the need for amputation).

Why is diabetic foot so worrisome?

Many people with diabetes have peripheral artery disease (PAD), which reduces blood flow to the feet. Also, many people with diabetes have neurpoathy, which makes it so you can’t feel your feet. Together, these problems make it easy to get ulcers and infections that may lead to amputation.

Why can’t diabetics soak their feet?

Do not soak feet, or you’ll risk infection if the skin begins to break down. And if you have nerve damage, take care with water temperature. You risk burning your skin if you can’t feel that the water is too hot.

Why do diabetics need to check their feet?

People with diabetes need to check their feet often because cuts and other injuries to the foot could lead to infection and, in extreme cases, make it necessary to amputate.

Why can’t diabetics put lotion between their toes?

To help manage these symptoms, you can safely use lotion, according to the American Diabetes Association. But it’s important to make sure you don’t put it between your toes because the extra moisture in that tight space may encourage fungus to grow.

How do diabetics take care of their feet?

Diabetes Foot Care Guidelines

1. Inspect your feet daily.
2. Bathe feet in lukewarm, never hot, water.
3. Be gentle when bathing your feet.
4. Moisturize your feet but not between your toes.
5. Cut nails carefully.
6. Never treat corns or calluses yourself.
7. Wear clean, dry socks.

Should diabetics wear socks to bed?

Consider socks made specifically for patients living with diabetes. These socks have extra cushioning, do not have elastic tops, are higher than the ankle and are made from fibers that wick moisture away from the skin. Wear socks to bed. If your feet get cold at night, wear socks.

Why can’t diabetics cut their toenails?

That’s because diabetes often causes poor circulation that leads to numbness in the feet. Numbness makes it less likely that you’ll notice cuts, scrapes, and blisters on your feet, and poor circulation means those wounds are less likely to heal properly.

Does Diabetes mainly effect both feet?

Diabetes leads to changes in the blood vessels, including arteries. In peripheral vascular disease, fatty deposits block vessels beyond the brain and heart. It tends to affect blood vessels leading to and from the extremities, such as the hands and feet, reducing blood flow to both.

What do your feet have to do with diabetes?

Over time, diabetes may cause nerve damage, also called diabetic neuropathy, that can cause tingling and pain, and can make you lose feeling in your feet. When you lose feeling in your feet, you may not feel a pebble inside your sock or a blister on your foot, which can lead to cuts and sores. Cuts and sores can become infected.

What are the signs of a diabetic foot?

Symptoms of diabetic foot problems can include the following: loss of feeling. numbness or tingling sensation. blisters or other wounds without painful. skin discoloration. skin temperature changes. red streaks. wounds with or without drainage.

What does diabetes have to do with foot pain?

Diabetic foot pain is very painful for people who suffer from diabetics. This is because as mentioned above, diabetes can damage the nerves of the foot and when this happens, there is always a possibility of having blood circulation around the foot impeded. It could lead to the feeling of numbness or burning pain in the foot.

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