For the millions of Americans who have diabetes (more than 38 million), one of the biggest concerns is diabetic foot ulcers. The alarming reality is that diabetic foot ulcers affect 1.6 million Americans each year, half of these foot wounds become infected, and 20% of these infections lead to amputation.
Now that we have your attention with these eye-opening statistics, let’s go in a more positive direction.
Since November is National Diabetes Month, our extensive team of foot health experts at Neuhaus Foot and Ankle wants to discuss the importance of early diabetic foot care when you have a wound.
A great place to start this discussion is to explain the link between diabetes and foot ulcers. When you have diabetes, the levels of glucose in your bloodstream aren’t well-regulated, thanks to a lack of insulin and/or insulin resistance.
As a result, higher than normal blood sugar levels can lead to damage in your peripheral nervous system and compromised blood flow to your lower extremities. In fact, nearly half of people with diabetes develop what we call peripheral neuropathy, which is nerve damage.
How this places you at much higher risk for slow-healing foot wounds is twofold:
First, you often can’t feel when you have a foot or ankle wound because of numbness in your lower extremities due to peripheral neuropathy.
Second, wounds are slow to heal because of compromised circulation, which leaves them open to infection.
We want to expand on this second contributor a little more. When you have a wound, your body jumps into action and kicks off a four-phase wound healing cascade that includes:
When you have poor circulation to your lower legs, the healing cascade can stall in the inflammatory stage thanks to a lack of oxygen and healing resources.
When healing stalls, it provides a window for bacteria to get in and create an infection. Once infection takes hold, healing becomes far more challenging.
When you have diabetes, it’s important that you check your feet at least once a day for any signs of open wounds. If you spot one, schedule an appointment right away. We can’t stress enough how important early intervention is with diabetic foot ulcers.
If we’re able to get in to boost healing and prevent infection during the early stages of a foot wound, outcomes are better.
When we say any wound, we mean even the smallest ones, such as broken blisters that aren’t healing quickly.
Please always err on the side of caution if you have a wound on your lower leg, ankle, or foot when you have diabetes. To set that up, all you need to do is contact one of our 16 conveniently located offices in Tennessee to schedule an appointment.
