When you have diabetes there is a possibility that your feet are at risk for serious complications. Some of which may lead to loss of function of limb or at times amputation.
Podiatric physicians at NOMS Ankle & Foot Care Centers warn people with diabetes in the Mahoning Valley to take adequate foot care and abide to preventive measures to avoid nerve damage, diabetic ulcers or wounds and amputation.
American Diabetes Association states that more than 70 percent of people with diabetes suffer from diabetic peripheral neuropathy, or nerve damage in the limbs. This may lead to the loss of feeling in the feet preventing them from functioning properly.
People who fail to feel their feet also cannot feel when they have an injury, callus or sore, says Dr. Lawrence DiDomenico, who treats patients at NOMS Ankle & Foot Care Centers in Boardman, Youngstown and East Liverpool. Often when its left untreated, these conditions worsen and turn into open wounds, leading to infection.
Though nerve damage is not often reversible, individuals suffering from diabetes who understand its symptoms and complications can take preventive measures to limit the worsening conditions, such as ulcer.
A diabetic ulcer is an open sore or wound that mostly occurs on the bottom of the foot. Ulcers surface in about 15 percent of patients with diabetes. Out of those who suffer a foot ulcer, 6 percent get hospitalized due to infection or other ulcer related complications.
Dr. DiDomenico says, they advise diabetic patients or those at risk to do daily foot exams and schedule checkups by a podiatrist at least twice a year to prevent ulcers, and corns and calluses, or more severe conditions.
According to Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention a comprehensive foot care treatment plan, which includes risk assessment, foot care education, preventative therapy, treatment of foot problems, as well as referral to specialists, can reduce amputation rates by as much as 85 percent.