Diabetic Foot Ulcers: Why You Should Seek Expert Care ASAP

When you’re living with diabetes, there are a lot of things you have to manage. You need to keep track of your blood sugar levels, exercise regularly, make healthy food choices, take all your medications as prescribed, and see your doctor regularly. 

In addition, you need to stay on top of caring for your feet. This is because the continually high blood sugar levels that come with diabetes start to cause damage to the nerves in your legs and feet, leading to a condition known as peripheral neuropathy. 

Peripheral neuropathy can decrease the amount of feeling in your feet and leave you vulnerable to open wounds and ulcers. 

Because untreated wounds and ulcers on your feet can lead to serious infections and even amputations, our team at Anodyne Pain and Wellness Solutions in Newark, Delaware, wants to explain how ulcers can develop and how to properly care for your feet when you have diabetes. 

Why foot wounds are serious when you have diabetes

Whenever you develop a wound on your foot, such as a cut, blister, or ingrown toenail, it has the potential to get infected. If you have full nerve sensation in your foot, pain alerts you that something is wrong. You can then treat the wound to encourage proper healing. 

However, when you have peripheral neuropathy, you could have a foot wound and not realize it. If you have an open wound that’s not being treated properly, it could lead to a much larger wound that will have trouble healing (ulcer). It may also get seriously infected and eventually cause tissue death (gangrene). 

Once gangrene sets in, your chances for foot amputation are high since the infection needs to be kept away from other parts of your body. 

Learn how to care for your feet

The best way to prevent an infection is to prioritize caring for your feet. These are some practical ways to do just that:

• Check your feet daily for injuries
• Wash your feet in warm water 
• Wear shoes that fit well and never walk barefoot
• Trim toenails correctly to avoid ingrown toenails
• Walk around often to encourage good blood flow

Also, you always need to have your doctor thoroughly examine your feet at each appointment. 

Treating an infected foot ulcer

If you notice any concerning changes in your feet, don’t wait to see our team. We can examine the wound and provide any necessary care. 

For mild wounds or ulcers, we can thoroughly cleanse the wound and bandage it in a way that promotes optimal healing. However, if the wound is severe or infected, we may need to remove infected tissue and graft in new tissue that can support new cell growth.  

To get started with expert-level wound care, schedule an appointment with our team by calling or using our online booking feature today.