Ways to treat all forms of diabetic foot
Diabetic patients develop several forms and types of the diabetic foot as a result of disease damages. But although the diabetic foot is one of the most common complications of diabetes, an individual may develop it as a result of some other factors.
Causes of diabetic foot:
1. Diabetic neuropathy makes the patient's limbs difficult to feel.
2. Peripheral vascular disease reduces blood flow to the hands and feet, which means rapid infection transmission, slow wound healing, and pain.
3. Peripheral arterial diseases associated with smoking.
4. Hypertension.
5. Hypercholesterolemia.
6. Articular deformities.
7. Submission to pre-amputation.
Symptoms of diabetic foot:
The signs and symptoms of diabetic foot are divided into early symptoms and late symptoms as follows:
Early symptoms of diabetic foot:
• Loss of feeling and sensation in the feet.
• Cold and pink sores on the edges of the feet.
• Fluid retention.
• Bad smell.
• Skin atrophy and absence of a pulse.
• Enlarged arteries.
• Numbness or tingling feeling.
• Changes in skin temperature and color.
• Difficulty maintaining balance while standing or walking.
• Repeated foot pain without injuries, wounds or symptoms of nerve damage.
• Burning, stinging pains that increase at night.
Late symptoms of diabetic foot:
• Bruising and ulcers occur due to the absence of feeling of the patient's foot.
• Muscular atrophy is a result of the lack of nerve impulse conduction of nerve impulses with a lack of calcium in the bones, so the bones become weak, deformed and prone to any fracture even without the patient's feeling.
• Wounds do not heal due to poor blood circulation, and as a result of less blood reaching the feet, the feet receive less oxygen and nutrients necessary for wound healing and infection control.
• Loss of prolonged walking ability . Older people may not realize this problem, because they do not walk much.
• cracked nails.
• Swellings in parts of the foot, especially the surface, soles of the feet, fingers, or ankles
• Pus draining from the foot, which is a very late sign.
• Gangrene (darkening of fingers, sides, or soles of the foot)
• Deformities and changes in the shape of the foot, such as its deviation to a particular direction or change in the shape of the fingers.
What are the most common types and forms of diabetic foot?
Diabetic foot ulcers vary in different types and may develop into different types of gangrene as well if left untreated:
1- Neurogenic diabetic foot ulcers:
Diabetic patients usually suffer from neurogenic ulcers besides neuritis. Usually, they feel no pain, dry skin, and cold in the extremities. So ulcers develop in the soles of the feet or fingers.
The treatment of this type of diabetic foot depends on removing dry skin, constantly moisturizing the skin, and choosing the right shoe for the foot.
2- Inflammatory diabetic foot ulcers:
It is a complication of nerve ulcers after a bacterial infection.
3- Arterial diabetic foot ulcers:
It appears due to atherosclerosis, and it leads to poor blood circulation in the body, lack of blood flow to the extremities, cold feet, and turning blue-red. It also causes severe muscle pain, especially when walking, causing tissue death and difficulty healing wounds. If not treated quickly, it doubles and causes gangrene. Treatment depends on the catheterization to widen the arteries or stent placement under local anesthetic.
4- Charcot foot ulcers:
It is also a complication of nerve damage as a result of chronic diabetes and neuritis. As a result of nerve damage, the bones become weak, fragile, and easy to break, but the absence of pain sensation worsens the condition until ulcers develop.
Diabetic foot treatment methods:
Diabetic foot treatment is divided into several types according to the degree and type of injury:
Non-surgical treatment:
This type can be relied upon in the early stages of injury that have not yet developed and caused complications. This is done by getting rid of tissue, cleaning wounds, applying appropriate surgical dressing, wearing special shoes, stopping smoking, taking appropriate antibiotics to control or reduce infection, and treating peripheral arterial diseases.
Surgical Treatment:
Non-surgical treatment may fail due to the development of the condition, complications and bacterial infection. The doctor goes for surgical intervention, which may include the removal of decomposed or dead tissue or performing vascular surgery with the placement of stents.
Where can diabetic foot be treated?
Dr. Waleed El-Daly, Professor of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, Cairo University, and an expert in the treatment of blocked leg arteries, is considered the best doctor in the treatment of diabetic foot and diabetic foot gangrene by the latest and most effective methods.
