Diabetic shoes may not be the first thing you think of when you wake up in the morning but believe me getting an injury on your foot will really set you back for a while. Diabetic foot injuries are referred to as foot ulcers or foot wounds. The description used by the medical community is both graphic and undesirable every time I hear them speak of these sores.
Amputation Is A Reality For Diabetics
It’s much worse when you actual get one or more of them on your foot. I know. I have one now. Doctors have told me that once a person has one incident of a foot ulcer the probability of another one is over 60%. Worse, it’s this type of injury that usually results in the end with amputation below the knee.
By the way, according to prosthetic experts, a person has a much better outcome when the amputation occurs below the knee rather than above the foot because the human body is better able to adapt over the wider range of support given by the longer size of the prosthetic.
Foot Wounds Are Easy To Miss
The problem with foot ulcers and other foot wounds and injuries is that due to diabetic nephropathy or lack of feeling or sensation many diabetics don’t even realize they have a problem until long after the wound has gotten really bad. By that time the doctors are exceptionally concerned about harmful bacteria getting into the bones in the feet and resulting in gangrene. Which then usually leads to foot loss.
This results in the doctors making the wound much larger because they have to burrow deep into the wound to make sure there are no hidden and bad surprises at the bottom of the wound.
Callouses Do Not Help
I always thought that having foot callouses was a good thing because they would protect my feet. Not so say my doctors. If anything, they are simply a means to hide really bad things that can be happening underneath them and away from easy detection. This is yet another reason to make sure you have good diabetic shoes.
So, what is the diabetic to do to keep foot injuries from happening to them? There are a few things that work really well.
- Inspect your feet every day
- If you can’t see every part of your foot use a hand mirror or better yet a lighted hand mirror that will let you see the whole foot
- Carefully check between your toes too
- If you find any kind of nick or other injury – DON’T do what I did and delay seeing a professional. Get it checked out IMMEDIATELY!
- Make sure you wear good diabetic socks and make sure you change them every day.
- Check with your podiatrist about using custom orthopedic inserts for your shoes. By the way, don’t get tempted by “The Good Feet” store and their commercials. I’ve been told by more than one podiatrist that these just don’t work for diabetics.
- Make sure you actually have and are using strong, supportive and comfortable diabetic shoes.
Check out some of the diabetic shoe supplies listed here. You can click on any of the links to check these products out on Amazon or other online resources. Post any comments, suggestions and any other helpful recommendations in the comments.