Diabetes and foot problems
How can diabetes affect the feet?
Foot problems are common in people with diabetes. You may be afraid of losing a toe, a foot or a leg, or you may know someone who has been through it. However, you can reduce the likelihood of having foot problems with good daily foot care. Controlling blood glucose levels (blood sugar) can also help you keep your feet healthy.
How can diabetes affect the feet?
Over time, diabetes can cause nerve damage, which is also known as diabetic neuropathy, which can cause pain and a tingling sensation, and can cause you to lose feeling in your feet. When you lose feeling in your feet, you may not feel a pebble in the sock or a blister on your foot, which can cause cuts and sores. Cuts and sores can become infected.
Diabetes can also decrease the amount of blood flow in the feet. If you don't have enough blood flow in your legs or feet, it is more difficult for a sore or infection to heal. Sometimes, a serious nerve infection is never cured. The infection can cause gangrene.
If gangrene and foot ulcers do not improve with treatment, the toe, foot, or part of the leg may be amputated. A surgeon may do an amputation to prevent a serious infection from spreading to the rest of the body, which could save your life. Good foot care is very important to prevent serious infections and gangrene.
Although it does not occur frequently, nerve damage from diabetes can cause deformations of the feet, such as Charcot's foot. Charcot's foot can start with redness, warming and swelling. Then, the bones and toes begin to move or break, which causes the foot to take a strange shape, such as "clubfoot."
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