Kendsie Hunter: The Importance of Feet
One of the many complications that can arise from uncontrolled diabetes concerns your feet. Anything from sores, cuts, and bruises to calluses, blisters and ingrown toe nails can be cause for alarm among people living with juvenile diabetes. The key to healthy feet is close control of your blood sugar. If you are in good control, most doctors will tell you that you have nothing to worry about. However, it is when blood sugar goes uncontrolled that the problems begin to appear.
Germs are fed by a multitude of things in the body, but the main one is sugar. So, when blood sugars run high for a long time, the germs in your feet, for example, grow more rapidly (http://diabetes.webmd.com/foot-problems). This is why blood sugar control is so important to keeping your feet healthy. Without sugar to feed on, the germs cannot grow, forcing them to die and therefore leave you with healthy feet.
Simply checking your feet everyday for anything as simple as scrapes, cuts, bruises, swelling or redness can save you from permanent damage in the long run. If left unchecked, the feet of diabetics can see some really terrible problems. Poor circulation, gangrene and amputation are just a sampling of the severe problems that can come from diabetes complications if left unchecked (http://www.diabetes.org/type-1-diabetes/foot-complications.jsp).
Foot complications usually occur after a person has lived with diabetes for 20 or more years. However, this does not mean that you should not check your feet everyday if you have only had diabetes for, say, three years. With proper blood sugar control and inspection of your feet, severe problems can be avoided. Each time you go to see your diabetes care doctor, they should perform a routine foot exam to make sure there are no problems.
As the summer is starting off, get your feet ready for not only sandals, sand, and sun, but keep them healthy too!
We value and respect the experiences of all of our HERWriters, but everyone is different. Many of our writers are speaking from personal experience, and what's worked for them may not work for you. Their articles are not a substitute for medical advice although we hope you can gain knowledge from their insight.
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