Foot Ulcers
Diabetes affects your body’s immune system’s ability to fight infection, thus making any infections more difficult to treat.
There are two very important goals in diabetic foot care:
- Prevent dangers to the feet from developing.
- Quickly address dangers to the feet that already have developed, preventing them from becoming worse.
Wound care focuses on the second goal. When a sore or injury on the foot does not heal quickly enough, it runs the risk of developing into an ulcer. Wound care is all about treating and managing these injuries with the goal of preventing further damage or even the need for amputation.
How Do Wounds Become So Bad?
The effects of diabetes can have two serious effects on your foot health:
- A decrease in circulation can cause injuries to the foot to heal more slowly than normal, as there is less oxygen and nutrients being supplied for cells to conduct repairs.
- Sensation can diminish in the feet as nerves become damaged.
When an injury or sore develops on the foot but is not felt, it can grow worse as you continue to use the foot. Eventually, the site can turn into a deep ulcer with a significant likelihood of becoming infected.
This risk is why it is absolutely crucial to be active in the first goal of diabetic foot care, preventing these dangers from happening. That involves checking your feet daily for signs of trouble or anything out of the ordinary, as well as taking measures to manage your blood sugar levels and wear well-fitting, protective diabetic shoes.
There are so many preventative opportunities you can take when it comes to ulcers, and we can help find the best ones for you.
Treating Ulcers
If you discover a wound, prompt treatment is essential toward preventing infection. It does not matter how small or “okay” the injury looks! Unfortunately, there are many cases when someone comes in too late and amputation becomes the only option.
The way we proceed with wound care will largely depend on the area of the foot that needs treated, whether there are any signs of infection, whether blood sugar is currently under control, and the status of circulation to the feet.
In many cases, dead and diseased tissue will be removed from the wound (called debridement). Medications will also often be prescribed to help fight infection. This may take the form of ointments or oral medications.
Once immediate factors are addressed, we may have to take care of secondary factors as well. We may need to offload weight from the area of a wound to allow it better opportunity to heal. This might involve the use of a brace, boot, or orthotics. If there are any other factors that are contributing to injury risks, those must be taken care of as well.
Get Help Now
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ENID
524 North Van Buren Street
Enid, OK 73703
Phone: 580-237-3338
Fax: 580-237-3399