Diabetes and your feet

The following is a guest post:

If you or anyone you know suffers from diabetes, you are well aware of the damage the body endures. When there is too much glucose in the bloodstream for a long period of time, diabetes problems are sure to arise. The high blood glucose (blood sugar) will damage many and often times multiple parts of the body; heart, blood vessels, eyes, kidneys, and even feet.

There are two main problems that are caused from too much glucose in your blood to focus on which will cause harm to your feet; nerve damage and poor blood flow. With damaged nerves in your legs and feet, one may not be able to feel pain, heat, or even cold in the leg and feet region. Diabetic neuropathy, which is basically the lack of feeling caused by nerve damage, may cause one to have cuts or sores on the feet which may get worse and infected because its presence isn’t known. Secondly, another common foot concern occurs when not enough blood actually flows to the legs and feet. Slow/poor blood flow makes it extremely difficult for a sore to heal, which can eventually and sometimes rapidly, lead to a severe infection. PVD (peripheral vascular disease) is the general term that is used to describe this problem. In short, it is extremely important to pay attention to your feet, especially if you are suffering from diabetes.

There are many preventatives that can be made to help reduce the chances of affecting ones health in concern with the feet; washing feet with warm water every day, file calluses gently, cut toe nails straight across, rub lotion on your feet but never in between toes, look at your feet every day to check for cuts, sores, etc., always wear slippers/shoes to protect feet from injuries, always wear socks to avoid blisters, and always wear proper shoes. That may look like a lot of steps to take, but your feet and your health will thank you. If you need to get the proper shoes or inserts to help prevent and future health problems, a great site to check out some really comfy shoes and foot accessories is http://drcomfort.com.