Potential Foot Problems With Diabetes
Neuropathy is another name for nerve disease associated with diabetes.
The end result of neuropathy, if not treated, is amputation of the feet. This is a major incentive to monitor and keep proper control of one’s blood glucose levels, as it is those who have poor control who are most at risk.
If blood sugars are not monitored and controlled, neuropathy generally sets in after 10 years or more. With proper control of blood sugars, this disease can be avoided completely.
Drinking does not help, and combined with poor glucose control, can contribute to this disease. Those with longer nerves, ie tall people are generally at more risk of contracting this disease.
The symptoms of nerve disease are not obvious and come on gradually. The easiest to detect is a loss, partial or total, of feeling in the feet.
Once sensation begins to be lost, it is very important that you make a point of making a visual check of your feet on a daily basis. This is to check for further damage, particularly when almost all sensation is lost.
In fact the most common problem is foot ulcers. In non diabetics, any pressure on the sole of the foot will show itself with pain. Diabetic neuropathy means that this pain is not felt by the sufferer, and after some time, the skin begins to harden in the area being pressurised. Over time this turns into a callus, which eventually forms an ulcer.
When there is no feeling in the feet, the ulcer can get bigger and bigger. Unless the feet are inspected regularly and treated, the ulcer will spread until it becomes inoperable, resulting in amputation of the feet.
Neuropathy can be avoided altogether with the correct disciplines:
- Ensure that your blood sugar levels are stable. Take action to get them under control.
- Seek medical advice if you have hypertension.
- Exercise. Bad cholesterol clogs the arteries and exercise helps to stimulate the body into producing new blood vessels, as well as reducing bad cholesterol.
-Smoking. Smoking is a major cause of peripheral arterial disease, which affects your feet first. Consider giving it up.
If you are a smoker, think about taking up a hobby. Toby, the creator of this article and a type 2 diabetic, smoked and suffered from hypertension. To ease his stress, he took up the Martin Backpacker guitar which he finds very effective at tackling stress. His Martin Backpacker guitar sounds great and is easy to transport.