In people who suffer from diabetes mellitus, in the lower extremities, as in other organs, there is damage to the nerves and blood vessels associated with a prolonged elevated blood sugar. These changes lead to a decrease in temperature, pain, vibration and tactile sensitivity of the legs, as a result of which the patient ceases to notice minor wounds, injuries, abrasions, cracks in the legs. Soon, such lesions become infected, become much larger in size, trophic ulcers appear, and in especially severe cases, gangrene of the lower extremities.
In this article, we’ll show you how to take proper diabetes foot care to prevent this situation. Prevention and treatment of trophic ulcers in diabetes is based on the following rules:
- Wash your feet every day with warm water, remembering to dry them with a soft towel. Be sure to wipe the interdigital spaces.
- Lubricate dry skin of the feet after washing with Dialine Active foot cream , excluding the areas of the interdigital spaces.
- Treat keratinized areas of the skin of the feet with the DIALINE pumice stone specially developed for this purpose .
- Handle your nails with extreme care – it is important to cut your nails straight without rounding the corners. It is advisable to file your nails with a nail file.
- Every day, carefully examine the feet in order to prevent the development of injuries, abrasions, cracks. When examining the sole, you can use a mirror placed on the floor.
- Change socks and stockings every day.
- In patients with diabetes mellitus, the sensitivity of the legs decreases, therefore, in order not to get burned, they should be warmed not with hot water or a heating pad, but with warm socks.
- Thoroughly inspect your shoes daily for wrapped insoles or any foreign objects. This will help prevent damage to the skin of the feet.
- Do not walk without shoes, do not wear shoes on bare feet.
- Do not wear tight, hard shoes. With a decrease in the sensitivity of the lower extremities, go shopping for shoes with a cardboard print of your foot (cardboard insole).
- Daily use of special socks for diabetics Dialine STEP, which are a highly effective prophylactic agent for skin and fungal diseases.
- Perform vascular gymnastics for the feet and legs every day.
- Lacing shoes with parallel lacing.
- In the presence of fungal lesions of the skin of the feet or nails, use special antimycotic agents ( Lotseril , Nitrofungin , Clotrimazole , Lamisil ).
- In case of foot injuries that do not heal for a long time, a patient with diabetes should immediately contact a specialist in the Diabetic Foot office.
It is important to remember that the treatment of trophic ulcers in diabetes should be carried out exclusively under the supervision of doctors.