Diabetes

If you’ve been diagnosed with diabetes, then you are among the approximately 1.7 million Australians with this condition. 1 Whether you’ve had this condition for a long time or have just recently been diagnosed, it’s crucial to understand more about how it can affect specific parts of your body. The feet are one area of concern when you receive a diabetes diagnosis. It's recommended that people with diabetes see a podiatrist at least once every 12 months for evaluation.

What Is Diabetes?

Diabetes is a problem with the body’s way of processing the food you eat. After a person eats, food is turned to glucose. In a person who does not have diabetes, the pancreas then creates insulin, which is a hormone that pushes the glucose to the cells for energy. When you have diabetes, the pancreas is not creating enough insulin to do the job. So, you end up getting a build-up of glucose, or sugar, in the blood. The additional sugar in the bloodstream is dangerous and toxic, leading to diabetes being a serious health issue.

What Are the Symptoms of Diabetes?

There is a range of symptoms associated with diabetes. The ones you may experience depend on how serious your condition is and how long you’ve had it. Some of the symptoms include:

Increased thirst

Frequent urination

Unexplained weight loss

Vision changes

Fatigue

Extremely dry skin

Increase in infections

How Diabetes Impacts the Feet

Over time, diabetes can take its toll on the feet. There are two foot conditions to be aware of. These are:

Diabetic Neuropathy:
This condition is from damage to the nerves in your feet. This results in a loss of sensation or feeling in your legs and feet. This aspect of neuropathy is called sensory neuropathy. What happens when you don’t have the sensation in your legs or feet? You may get a cut, sore, or injury and not realise it. Next, an infection can occur — all without your awareness. Also, your foot may not be aligned correctly when you walk because of damaged nerves, causing you to put more weight on one part over the other part.

Peripheral Vascular Disease:
Another problem when you have diabetes is the blood flow to the feet. It becomes restricted and leads to problems with healing. We need adequate blood circulation for proper healing in our extremities.

Diabetes Makes Common Foot Conditions Serious
The foot problems listed above are because of diabetes, but there are other regular foot conditions that everyone gets. However, if a person with diabetes gets one of these “common” foot issues and isn’t treated, it can turn into extremely serious complications — even amputation. The foot problems that need to have constant attention and care (and ones you may be prone to ignore) are as follows:

Athlete’s foot

Fungal infections

Calluses

Corns or bunions

Blisters (risk of popping and infection occurring)

Dry skin (germs can get in and infection can occur)

Diabetic ulcer (this can happen from a minor scrape or cut)

Hammertoes

Ingrown toenails

Plantar warts

As you can see from this list, the one thing in common all of these conditions have is their propensity to lead to infections. A foot infection for a person with diabetes is much more serious than a person without diabetes.

Next Steps If You Have Diabetes...

If you have diabetes, it’s crucial that you have regular appointments with a podiatrist. At Port Stephens Foot Clinic, a professional podiatrist will regularly look over your feet to ensure no issues are developing. Protecting your feet and preventing any infection from starting is the key! Our local certified podiatrists based in Lambton, Medowie, Raymond Terrace, Tanilba Bay, Cessnock and Kurri Kurri are ready to assist you with the pain caused by diabetes. Don’t delay getting your issue resolved.