Seven Good Habits for Preventing Diabetic Ulcers

Developing good skin and foot care habits can help prevent one of the most devastating outcomes of diabetes, amputation of a foot or leg. Over time, the disease leaves its victims with poor circulation, reduced sensitivity to heat and pain, along with dry, sensitive skin. Diabetes also increases susceptibility to yeast and other fungal infections. All of these develop more readily, are less likely to be noticed, and heal more slowly than they do in non-diabetics.

Because these problems are not as likely to occur in the early stages of the disease, newly diagnosed diabetics might not pay much attention to caring for their feet and skin until they develop a wound or ulcer that fails to heal properly. However, adopting good habits early can prevent serious problems in the future.

All diabetics should incorporate foot and skin care as a regular part of personal hygiene, as routine as brushing your teeth or washing your hair. Building good habits early means problems can be prevented, or identified and treated before they become serious.

Seven habits to include in your daily hygiene regimen as soon as you are diagnosed are:

Stay dry. Dry yourself well after washing, and pay special attention to your feet and the space between your toes. Change socks and shoes often. Diabetics are especially vulnerable to fungal infections, so dry carefully where skin touches skin, such as under the breast.

Look to your sole. How often do you look at the bottoms of your feet or between your toes? Probably never, but you should look every day. Look for redness, fungal infections like athletes foot, broken or jagged nails that might scratch the toes next to it, cuts or scratches, calluses, and sores. Inspect your feet every day, after your shower or bath, or when you put on your shoes for the first time each day. If you find any of these problems, take immediate steps to correct them.

Have beautiful skin. Advertisers bombard us with advertisements for lotions and other products to keep skin looking healthy and beautiful. For once the advertisements are right about something. Using creams on your feet will help prevent calluses and sore spots. Using them on the rest of your body will make the skin less likely to break if you scratch or rub it. So keep yourself beautiful and healthy by routinely applying lotions or creams after your shower or bath.

Have pretty feet. Regular pedicures can be an advantage, if you let the manicurist know that you are diabetic. This gives you an extra person who looks at your feet regularly. Ask to be told about anything that looks unusual. Be sure that instruments are properly sanitized, and that the license is current. Ask that nails be cut straight across to reduce the chances of an ingrown toenail. Don’t allow calluses to build up. Some doctors advise that only podiatrists should care for the feet of diabetics.

Wear good shoes. Choose your shoes for comfort and protection first, not for elegance. Wearing shoes that rub, pinch, or cause blisters, calluses, or hot spots is asking for trouble. Four inch stilettos and pointy toes may be fashionable, but they aren’t smart. Sandals make you more vulnerable to injuries than closed shoes, and socks protect your feet from scratches and help keep them dry. Try not to wear the same pair of shoes two days in a row, so any rubbing is on a different spot.

Don’t scratch. Don’t scratch dry skin, don’t scratch mosquito bites. Get out of the habit of scratching anything that itches. Breaking the skin, especially with your fingers, increases the chance of developing an ulcer.

Treat it now. Take care of even the smallest scratch, cut, or inflammation immediately. If you have a cut or scratch, wash it and apply triple antibiotic cream. Cover it for protection, and try not to irritate it further. Apply anti-fungal cream at the first sign of athletes foot or any other fungal infection. Many people let nail fungus go for long periods of time. If you are diabetic, don’t wait. If you notice redness or find hot spots caused by rubbing, find the source and eliminate it.

Work on developing these habits to greatly reduce the risk of developing or missing a potentially limb-threatening problem. The earlier you incorporate them into your daily routine, the more likely you are to spot problems early.

Related posts:

1. Promising New Treatment for Foot Infections
2. The Red Spots on Feet
3. Putting Your Foot Down – The Issues with Diabetes Foot Ulcers

Tagged as: foot care ulcers