What are Diabetic Foot Symptoms and How to Avoid it
Many people link Diabetic Foot with diabetes, as diabetes, is the only cause of diabetic foot disease, but this is not true. Other factors may lead to diabetic foot and those factors must be understood to access the right means of treatment and avoid complications; So you should know what is the diabetic foot in terms of symptoms, causes and treatment.
Diabetic foot is a complication of diabetes and occurs as a result of uncontrolled blood glucose level causing nerve damage, especially in the leg area, which causes the patient to lose the feeling of his foot temperature or pain and is called diabetic neuropathy.
In case of any wound or infection, it turns into an incurable ulcer that are not healed due to nerve and blood vessel damage, and also any infection will not be cured as a result of poor blood flow, and a person may develop gangrene or tissue death due to blood deficiency, but what are the other causes of diabetic foot?
Causes of Diabetic Foot:
Many causes ultimately lead to diabetic foot, including:
• Inflammation of peripheral nerves and loss of sensation.
• Hardening and narrowing of the peripheral arteries, impaired blood circulation and slow wound healing.
• Microbial and Fungal infections.
• Wounds in the feet with diabetes that delays wound healing and aggravates them further.
Symptoms of Diabetic Foot:
There are many symptoms that are indicative of diabetic foot, the most prominent of which are:
• Skin colouring.
• Loss of feeling but with continued painful tingling.
• Numbness in the foot and leg.
• The appearance of blisters or other wounds without pain.
• Changes in skin temperature.
• Distorted appearance of the foot.
If the infection appears in the foot ulcer, the person may also encounter some of the following:
• Fever.
• Cold chills.
• Redness.
Diabetic Foot Diagnosis:
Even with the appearance of diabetic foot symptoms, it needs a correct diagnosis by Dr. Waleed El-Daly Assistant Professor of Vascular Surgery and Diabetic Foot Treatment to first determine the cause of diabetic foot before starting treatment and to eliminate this cause if possible, because this is part of the treatment of the diabetic foot, and the diagnosis is usually made through a physical examination performed Dr. Waleed El-Daly based on several indicators, including:
• Separation of the nails from the fingers.
• The presence of hard skin usually accumulated on the lower side of the foot, either at the front of the foot or heel or in the large toe area or between the fingers.
• Dry skin on the feet.
• Foot Ulcers.
• Having swelling at the corner of the big finger in the foot and turning its colour into the blue.
Early diagnosis is extremely important for the treatment of diabetic foot, so it is important when any symptoms appear to visit Dr. Waleed El-Daly for the treatment of diabetic foot so that it does not reach amputation.
Diabetic Foot Disease Avoidance:
Prevention is the first step to avoiding diabetic foot, so that it does not develop into amputation in advanced cases, and is done through:
• Routine examination of the feet.
• Keep your feet clean and dry regularly.
• Wear cotton socks.
• Avoid wounds.
• Pay attention to the temperature of the feet.
• Trim and treat the nails in case of injury.
• Avoid high temperature and hot water.
• Maintain balanced levels of glucose in the body.
• Quit smoking.
• Choose suitable shoes.
• Treat foot fungi quickly, especially between the toes.
• Treatment of diabetic foot ulcers.
• Treatment of pain.
• Maintain the regularity of treatment for patients with kidney morbidity or who undergo dialysis.
• Pay Attention to wounds regarding cleaning, replacing bandages regularly and not leaving them to air exposure so that they do not become contaminated or develop bacteria while protecting the healthy tissue surrounding the wound.
