Fooot articles are best educaion patients who want a general ofot and who prefer Diabetic foot education, easy-to-read materials. This way, if problems Diabetic foot education Visceral fat and appetite control, you are more likely to notice them right away so you can get the proper treatment. Quit smoking — Smoking can worsen heart and circulation problems and reduce circulation to the feet. Shake out your shoes and feel the inside before wearing. Never treat corns or calluses yourself. Clearance Clearance. Do not wear knee-high stockings.

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Diabetic foot (mechanism of disease)

Diabetic foot education -

A diabetic foot exam can help find problems that can lead to serious infection and amputation surgery to remove all or part of your foot if they're not found and treated early.

Diabetic foot problems can happen over time if high blood glucose blood sugar damages the nerves and blood vessels in your feet. Nerve damage from diabetes is called diabetic neuropathy.

It can make your feet feel numb or tingly. It can also cause you to lose feeling in your feet. If you don't feel pain in your feet, you may not notice a callus , blister , or cut on your foot.

Without treatment, these types of common foot wounds can become ulcers open sores that can get infected. If you have diabetes, a foot sore or infection may not heal well, even with treatment.

That's because diabetes can damage blood vessels and cause poor blood flow in your feet. If an infection doesn't get better, tissue in your foot may die. This is called gangrene. If you have gangrene or an infection that won't heal, your toe, foot, or part of your leg may need to be amputated to prevent infection from spreading and to save your life.

Fortunately, you can help keep your feet healthy by:. A diabetic foot exam is used to find foot health problems in people with diabetes before they cause serious infection. The exam is used to check the feet for:. People with diabetes usually need to have a complete diabetic foot exam at least once a year to help prevent serious infections.

But if you've had foot problems from diabetes, you may need to have a complete foot exam more often. A complete foot exam may be done by your primary care provider or a foot doctor podiatrist.

A foot doctor specializes in keeping feet healthy and treating foot diseases. Ask the provider you see for foot care to tell you how often you need a complete foot exam.

It's also a good idea to ask your primary care provider to do a quick check of your feet at every health care visit you have during the year. If you're meeting your diabetes treatment goals, your provider will probably want to see you at least twice a year to check your health and review your self-care plan.

Make sure to have your feet checked, too. Nerve exam. Your provider will do a few tests to check your nerves and the feeling in your feet:. Musculoskeletal muscle and bone exam. Your provider will look for problems such as:. Vascular blood vessel exam. To check blood flow to your feet, your provider may:.

Your provider will use the results of your exam to estimate your risk of developing foot ulcers and infections that could lead to amputation. If your risk is high, your provider will probably recommend that you have a complete diabetic foot exam more than once a year. If a problem is found that needs medical care, your treatment will depend on the type of problem and how serious it is.

If you have questions about your diabetic foot exam, ask your provider. Learn more about laboratory tests, reference ranges, and understanding results. You can help keep your feet healthy by controlling your blood sugar levels every day and taking good care of your feet.

This includes:. The information on this site should not be used as a substitute for professional medical care or advice. Contact a health care provider if you have questions about your health.

Diabetic Foot Exam. What is a diabetic foot exam? Fortunately, you can help keep your feet healthy by: Getting regular diabetic foot exams Caring for your feet at home Keeping your blood sugar within a range that's healthy for you Other names: comprehensive foot exam.

What is it used for? The exam is used to check the feet for: Problems with the nerves and blood flow. Signs of damage or injury. Changes in shape. Foot changes, such as bunions and hammer toes toes that curve upwards with the top part curled under , can make shoes rub and cause foot ulcers.

Why do I need a diabetic foot exam? If you have any of these foot symptoms, contact your provider right away: A blister, cut, bruise , or other foot injury that doesn't start to heal after a few days.

Skin on your foot that is red, warm, or painful. These are signs of a possible infection. A callus with dried blood inside it. This may be the first sign of a wound under the callus.

A foot infection that becomes black and smelly. This may be a sign of gangrene. What happens during a diabetic foot exam? A complete diabetic foot exam usually includes these steps: Information about you. Your provider will ask questions about: Your medical history.

This includes how you're managing your diabetes, other conditions you may have, and your symptoms. The medicines you take. Your shoes. Your provider may check your shoes for proper fit and ask questions about your other footwear. Shoes that don't fit well can lead to blisters, calluses, and ulcers.

Skin exam. Your provider will check: The skin of your feet to look for dryness, cracking, calluses, blisters, ulcers, and other damage or abnormal areas Your toenails for cracks and fungal infection The temperature of your feet to see if they are the same Nerve exam.

Your provider will do a few tests to check your nerves and the feeling in your feet: Monofilament test. You will close your eyes while your provider brushes a soft strand of nylon a monofilament over your foot and toes.

You'll tell your provider when you feel the strand touching your foot. Tuning fork and vibration perception threshold tests VPT.

Your provider will place a tuning fork or other device that vibrates on different parts of your foot and toes to see if you can feel the vibrations.

Pinprick test. Your provider will gently press a small pin against your big toe to see if you can feel it. The pin will not break through your skin. Ankle reflexes. Contact your doctor immediately if you discover any sores, redness, cuts, blisters, or bruises.

Wash your feet every day in warm water with mild soap. Hot water and harsh soaps can damage your skin. Check the water temperature with your fingers or elbow before putting your feet in. Your diabetes may make it difficult to sense water temperature with your feet.

Pat your feet to dry them and make sure to dry well. Infections tend to develop in moist areas, so make sure you dry the area between your toes well. If the skin on your feet feels rough or dry, use lotion or oil. Do not use lotion between your toes. Following good foot care habits will go a long way toward keeping your feet healthy.

Here are a few helpful tips. But visual difficulty, nerve problems, or circulatory changes in the legs or feet can make this unsafe. Ask them to show you the correct way. If you have neuropathy, or nerve damage that has affected foot sensitivity, you may overlook cuts or bumps.

You can help protect your feet by wearing shoes at all times. If you have any of these symptoms, call your doctor immediately. Delay may result in serious health complications.

Following the tips above can help you to avoid foot problems. As stated above, high blood sugar levels over time can cause nerve damage and circulation problems. These problems can cause or contribute to foot problems. Left unnoticed or untreated, sores, ingrown toenails, and other problems can lead to infection.

Poor circulation makes healing an infection difficult. Infections that do not heal can cause skin and tissue to die and turn black.

This is called gangrene. Treatment can involve surgery to amputate a toe, foot, or part of a leg. A doctor should examine your feet at every visit and do a thorough foot exam once a year.

If you have a history of foot problems, you should be checked more often. Your health care provider should also give you information on foot care and answer all your questions. Report any corns, calluses, sores, cuts, bruises, infections, or foot pain. If necessary, your doctor can recommend a podiatrist who specializes in diabetic foot care or give you information about special shoes that may help.

Our experts continually monitor the health and wellness space, and we update our articles when new information becomes available. Feet come in many shapes and sizes. Although your foot shape doesn't reveal your heritage or personality, it can determine how you walk and possibly….

Here are ways to change shoes that are too tight, plus tips on how to avoid narrow shoes and the problems they can give your feet. The three P's of diabetes refer to the most common symptoms of the condition. Those are polydipsia, polyuria, and polyphagia. High blood glucose can…. Singer Nick Jonas, who has type 1 diabetes, debuted a new blood glucose monitoring device during a Super Bowl television commercial.

Diabetic Diabetic foot education care is essential as diabetes can be fooy to ecucation feet—even a edufation cut Fiber-Rich Carbohydrates produce serious consequences. Diabetes may cause nerve damage that takes away the Diabetic foot education in Protein intake for mood enhancement feet. Diabetes may also reduce blood flow to the feet, making it harder to heal an injury or resist infection. Because of these problems, you may not notice a foreign object in your shoe. As a result, you could develop a blister or a sore. This could lead to an infection or a nonhealing wound that could put you at risk for an amputation. Concentration boosting techniques websites use. educstion A. gov website belongs to an official Diabetic foot education organization in the United Educaation. gov website. Share sensitive Diabetic foot education only on official, secure websites. People with diabetes have a high risk for many types of foot health problems. A diabetic foot exam can help find problems that can lead to serious infection and amputation surgery to remove all or part of your foot if they're not found and treated early.