Non Surgical Diabetic Foot Care
A.If You Don't Have Any Ulcer But Diabetes.
1.Creams For Foot Care: Dry skin cause itching in the skin is a general concern for those who have diabetes. The feet in diabetes are more prone to dryness due to associated neuropathy. Foot creams can help in reducing pain in the foot by softening calluses and reducing itching, flaking skin by preventing dryness on the feet.they will keep skin smooth and pliable so it does not tear on simple friction. Surat Diabetic Foot And Ulcers Clinic will provide you with such creams.
2.Cream For Corn And Callus: A corn is a thick hard skin near a bony area of a toe and in between toes formed by pressure from shoes or ground that rub against the toes or cause friction between the toes. A callus is a build-up of hard skin, usually on the underside of the foot.
Corns and calluses, both can cause foot pain & discomfort and if left untreated, they can result in serious potential side effects like ulceration and infection.
One can use an easy and simple thing for the treatment of corn & callus- one can apply any petroleum jelly-like vaseline or coconut oil every night before going to sleep, rub a little petroleum jelly/coconut oil on the corn or callus and cover with a bandage.
Another cream is Salicylic acid which is keratolytic. Salicylic acid causes the wart to gradually peel off. Thus it will help in the removal of corns and calluses.
3. Sugar Control: Hyperglycemia(increased blood sugar) is the major pathology in diabetes which leads to all problems. So it is the most important thing in the management of diabetes. To control blood sugar one needs to focus on diet and as per need take antidiabetic medicines or insulin injections. One must take an endocrinologist’s opinion for this.we have on panel some of the well known endocrinologists for your service. Your routine physician also can manage the glycemic control.
4. Biothesiometry: this is the way we can check the sensations of your foot and sole. If you know this you will take care of your foot more vigilantly. Even basic level biothesiometry reading will help us to know progress of diabetic neuropathy progress in future.
5. Pedobarogram And Tailor Made Foot Wear: it is one of the investigations to digitally measure the pressure distribution on the foot while standing and walking. This will allow us to find high pressure areas on your sole which are prone for ulcer formation thereby we can give you offloading footwear. This footwear will allow you to distribute pressure all over your foot equally so no high pressure area and no chance of ulcer formation. Also these footwear are tailor made for your foot, wide, breathable and washable.
6. Gait Training: Diabetic patients have multiple types of neuropathies and foot imbalance. Their gait can be improved by gait training by physiotherapist.this will lead to confident walking as well as good bone health and circulation in limb.
7. Pedicure: this is the way we take care of your feet. We have a special technique with help we can wash your feet, remove any corn callus and keep your skin smooth and pliable. We can trim your nail and avoid any cut or ingrown toenail. We even clean your inter digit webspace to avoid any kind of fungal infection there. We can find early signs of a high pressure zone so that you can prevent ulcer formation.
8. Callus and Corn Excision: this can be done as an outpatient facility without surgery.callus is a high pressure area and there is a ulcer formation below callus. So it is better to remove callus. If it cannot be managed by creams we can scrape it off in OPD. Even corn removal can also be done by Dr Ashutosh Shah in OPDs.
B: If You Have Developed An Ulcer That Is Grade
An ulcer is believed to be a precursor of gangrene and foot loss. Small uninfected ulcers if not treated will become cause for infection spread, gangrene and amputation in future. So it is a necessary step to attack such an ulcer heavily.
1. Debridement And Corn- Callus Removal: this can be done on an OPD basis without any surgery. This will prevent further progress of an ulcer.large corns can be removed surgically with sutures or with laser.
2.Specialised offloading footwear: This type of specialised footwear can be used for ulcer healing.We at our clinic provide specialised tailor made footwear.
3.Total contact cast: In diabetic foot ulcers, the main concern for healing this ulcer is to provide a proper environment which includes an unpressurized area so it can heal. For this, we can use Total contact casting (TCC). It is a specially designed cast to take the weight off of the foot also known as off-loading. Reducing pressure on the wound by taking the weight off the foot has proven to be very effective in diabetic foot ulcer treatment.
Routine foot care
- Check your feet every morning. If you have any cuts, wounds, or redness; contact your doctor immediately.
- keep your foot in warm water + 2 drops of Dettol + 1 rupee shampoo every day. Keep the foot dipped for 15 minutes and then dry them completely. Webspace (the area between two finger toes) must keep dry. Spray the absorbent powder. Seek someone else's help to check the temperature of water.
- Apply moisturizer to your feet daily. [Avoid applying moisturizer between fingers.]
- Cut off nails with nail cutters. Do not use scissors, blade, etc. Do not cut the skin below the nails. If possible, seek the help of a doctor - a podiatrist.( We at Surat Diabetic Foot And Ulcers Clinicc offer nail cutting for the elderly person at minimum amount )
- Keep your feet high while sitting.
- Wear thick, soft and cotton gloves that protect against cuts or other injuries. Seamless socks or silicone soles are better. Take the help of your doctor on this.
- Wear broad shoes so that there is room for the fingers to bend.
- Never remove callosity, warts & corn on your own. Contact a doctor for that.
- Do not use a hot water shake or heating pad.
- Do not smoke.
- Don't walk barefoot. [Wear shoes even at home.]
- Do not stand on bare feet in the temple or outside in the sun.
- Regularly check your sugar and control it.