Diagnosed with Diabetes? Your feet require extra care.
Diabetes can be tricky to navigate if you have just been diagnosed. Let’s review a few tips and tricks to keep those feet healthy, and happy well into your upcoming winter walks!
Keep An Eye on Your Feet
Making sure that you are always monitoring your feet is one of the most important things that people living with diabetes can do. You always want to be monitoring your feet to see if there is any calluses, cuts, abrasions, or anything else out of the ordinary. This becomes even more important if you are experiencing any loss of sensation in your feet, as even a small pebble could create a possibility of an ulcer forming among other health complications.
Take Care of Your Nails
Nail care can be tough, especially as you age and if there are any mobility limitations. If you cannot trim your toenails safely on your own, it is advisable to seek out professional help. As toenails get trickier to cut, the risk of cutting the nails too short or potentially cutting the skin grows drastically. At BioPed, our team of Advanced Footcare Nurses and Chiropodists are there for all of your footcare needs. From shaving down a callus or corn, to trimming tough to reach toenails, they can do it all.
Getting Into The Right Footwear
When living with diabetes, it’s important to keep your feet efficient at managing the pressure you put through them. In addition to this, reducing the pressure a shoe places on the foot is just as important. Here’s a couple of things to keep in mind when choosing the right shoe for your feet:
- A properly fitted shoe should have extra space in both width and length. Aim for a fingernails width of extra space at the end of the toe box with no pressure being placed on the foot from the sides.
- Deep toe box – There should be no pressure on the top of your foot or toes, caused by the shoe.
- Rocker sole – This upwards curvature in the sole helps to get you off of your foot faster during gait, and reduces pressure on the toe joints as well as bottom of your forefoot.
Look Into Orthotics
Sometimes the perfect shoe can’t do it all. Often, problems occurring with the feet are a result of how you move and put pressure through your feet. Orthotics work to redistribute this pressure and get things working more efficiently. Our BioPed Canadian Certified Pedorthists and Chiropodists are skilled in handcrafting comfortable orthotics that work, and will serve your specific daily needs.
Keep Your Feet Dry and Cozy!
Wet feet for a prolonged period of time are a big no no, but even more so when you have diabetes. With wet and soggy socks comes the possibility of bacterial or fungal growth and infection.
Socks without seams are another important item to take note of, especially as foot sensitivity diminishes. Often seams in socks can cause rubbing on the foot. Looking for diabetic socks fixes this problem as most diabetic socks are made without seams. At BioPed, we love the brand Simcan!
Come See Us!
If you have diabetes, please book an appointment today! Consistent diabetic foot screening can help to keep you on track and your feet feeling happy and healthy. At BioPed Footcare, whether its bracing, shoes, orthotics or footwear we are here for you. With our on-site lab there is nothing we can’t do! Meet with one of BioPed’s lower limb clinicians to see how you can keep your knees, feet and lower body healthy!
