Every day, you spend a lot of time on your feet, which can put a lot of wear and tear on them. Minor ailments, such as bunions can become a serious problem when you have diabetes. Find a foot care clinic and discover how the best foot chiropodists in Toronto can provide treatment, craft orthotic inserts for your feet and help you deal with diabetes and other serious ailments. In this post, we’ll discuss several aspects of foot care.
Diabetic Foot Problems
Why might those who are suffering from diabetes experience foot problems as well? According to WebMD, diabetic foot problems are called diabetic neuropathy, which can damage your nerves and lower blood flow. Doctors have discovered that the foot has the most nerve endings per square foot of any part of your body. Since the feet are so far from the head – the part of the body we are most focused on, since it houses our eyes, our mind and our thought process – we spend very energy on them. They are, however, an incredibly complex and important part of your physical structure.
Your feet have a lot of nerves so that they can feel the earth below them as you walk or run; with every step, the nerves in your feet are measuring, gauging and assessing your environment. They are determining whether the environment is safe.
Who hasn’t stubbed their toe? Have you noticed how much it hurts? This is because you have so many nerves down there. Unfortunately, with “sensory diabetic neuropathy” the nerves in your feet can become damaged; you might also suffer from less blood flow. When there is pain in your feet, you may not notice it, and thus you might fail to address problems as they become more serious.
Therefore, minor foot problems in diabetes patients tend to worsen because they do not heal properly. That is why experts estimate that up to 10% of all diabetics will develop foot ulcers at some point in their lives.
In extreme cases, dying tissue can lead to gangrene, which might require amputation. These common foot problems might become much more serious conditions in diabetics:
- Athlete’s Foot
- Blisters
- Bunions
- Calluses
- Corns
- Foot Ulcers
- Fungal Infections
- Hammertoes
How can these ailments be ameliorated or improved?
Orthotic Inserts
Foot ulcers can occur due to many issues, including poorly fitting shoes. If foot ulcers worsen, they could become infected. One way to minimize the number of foot ulcers is to find a foot clinic that can make custom orthotic inserts for your feet.
Gait Analysis
Of course, it can be difficult to see the bottom of your feet and understand the fundamental flaw in your gait; you might have some hidden issues that will only be revealed by professional analysis.
Combining the best orthotics with gait analysis can be a good way to engage in preventative care. Diabetics need to be more pro-active since good pro-active foot care can help you combat the ill effects of diabetes on your feet.
Diabetes rates are rising in the general population, being pro-active with diabetic foot care, foot orthotics and gait analysis can help you deal with minor diabetic foot problems before they become serious.
