Diabetes presents a lot of problems to your health. This would lead you to take special care of your health to prevent health complications. One of the areas you would have to take care of is your feet. This may seem unrelated, but it has been observed that diabetes affects your feet in certain ways.
One of the reasons why it happens is due to the fact that diabetes could damage the nerves around your feet, making them numb. This would prevent you from noticing sores or blisters on your feet. A simple blister or any other foot injury, if untreated, could result in serious problems, often leading to an infection, that could spread around the body. Eventually, your toe, foot, or leg would have to be amputated. Another problem you might face is that injuries that occur on the foot would take a long whole to heal and may never fully heal. This happens when the blood flow to the foot is reduced, caused by diabetes.
For these reasons, it is very important that you care for your feet if you are suffering from diabetes, and we have outlined some tips you can follow below.Â
Inspect Your Feet Every Day
The first place to start is by inspecting your feet every day for blisters, sores, or cuts. Because you can no longer feel very well with your feet, it is only with a careful inspection that you can discover if there are cuts and blisters on your feet.
Set a time each day when you would carefully inspect your feet, using your eyes under very good light. Check from the front to the back of the feet. Also, check between your toes. If you notice anything unusual, such as swelling or crack or blister, inform your doctor about it.Â
Avoid Walking Barefoot
Whether you are in your bedroom, anywhere inside your house, or outside, make sure you are wearing shoes or slippers to protect your feet. That way, you reduce the chances of cuts and cracks occurring on your feet.Â
Inspect Your Shoes Before Wearing Them
Before you slip into your shoes for the day, make sure to carefully check inside the shoe to be sure there are no pebbles or any other sharp object inside as you would not be able to feel it with your feet by the time you put on the shoes.Â
Avoid Wearing Tight Shoes
Tight shoes tend to squeeze your toes, putting your feet at risk of developing blisters without you knowing. That is why you need shoes that allow your toes breathe. Also, the inside of the shoes should be soft with hard outer soles. Another good tip is that you should have more than one pair of shoes that you can change shoes often.Â
Do Not Use Hot Water On Your Feet
If you are diabetic, you should avoid getting your feet near hot water as it could result in scalding that would not heal. If you are going to test the temperature of water, use your hand to do that.Â
Wear Diabetes-Friendly Socks
Another thing you should do is to wear socks that were made for people with diabetes. Such socks are usually soft and made from material that would keep your feet warm and dry, keeping moisture out.Â
Bottom Line
This article has provided you with tips on how to care for your feet when you have diabetes. Thus, you need to follow them, as well as exercising, by following some fitness tips for diabetics, and also eating healthy foods for diabetics. With this, you can manage the condition properly.
Collins Nwokolo is a human physiologist, writer and health enthusiast. He loves writing helpful articles on health and fitness, which he enjoys sharing with everyone.
