Diabetic Foot Care
Your feet serve you well, enabling essential functions like weight-bearing and mobility. Giving them the conscientious care they deserve is a great way to return the favor, show your appreciation, and keep your feet looking and feeling their best. While anyone and everyone can benefit from taking good care of their feet, when you're living with diabetes, proper foot care is more than just advisable—it's absolutely vital. It could save your feet or even your life.
Diabetes is a life-threatening chronic illness that can cause wide-ranging complications. People with diabetes face an increased risk of foot problems, some of which can lead to potentially devastating consequences. Regular podiatric care, in conjunction with diligent daily foot checks and tightly controlling your blood sugar levels, provides you with the best chances for avoiding serious complications. Here's what you should know about diabetic foot care, including how our knowledgeable and experienced podiatrist, Dr. Alvin Cowans, can offer the gentle, effective routine care you need to keep your feet on track to good health.
Diabetes and Your Feet
Diabetes is a complex disease that affects your ability to produce or properly use insulin, a hormone that controls how the body uses and stores blood sugar (also called blood glucose). Insulin plays a key role in metabolism; it's what enables your body to turn the food you eat into energy.
High blood sugar, or hyperglycemia, is the most common and most serious symptom associated with diabetes. It happens when there's too little insulin in the body, or the body is unable to utilize the existing insulin properly. High glucose levels can injure nerves and cause circulation issues throughout the body, especially in the feet, where such complications can manifest as painful burning or tingling, a pins-and-needles sensation, or numbness. Neuropathy can make it harder to feel injuries and circulation problems can make issues slower to heal—a dangerous double whammy for people with diabetes.
Proper at-home foot care, daily self-foot checks, and regularly seeing a skilled podiatrist can help you prevent potential problems, or recognize and seek treatment for minor issues before they have an opportunity to develop into severe, life-changing complications.
Routine Care to Help Keep Diabetic Feet on Track
At Optimum Podiatry, we're intimately familiar with the issues that diabetic patients face and committed to providing the gentle care and support you need to maintain healthy, happy feet. Our routine podiatric services for diabetics include:
- Diabetic foot exams
- Preventative care
- Toenail trimming
- Treatment for ingrown or fungal toenails
- Corn or callus removal
- Comprehensive diabetes foot care education
- Footwear analysis, prescriptions, and shoe fittings
Our Powder Springs podiatry practice also offers a wide variety of treatment options for neuropathy and circulation issues. We're constantly searching out and implementing the latest, most effective solutions and interventions to ensure that we're always able to serve you best.
Make Us a Part of Your Diabetes Management Team
When it comes to diabetes management, the old saying, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” rings especially true. Working with skilled medical professionals to control your diabetes and mitigate the disease's effects on the various parts of your body is vital to maintaining your health and avoiding disastrous complications. Looking to add a knowledgeable and experienced podiatrist to your diabetes management team? You've come to the right place. Dr. Cowans' in-depth understanding of podiatric anatomy and extensive experience treating diabetic patients makes him an ideal addition to the group of professionals directing your care. After carefully evaluating your feet and addressing your questions and concerns, Dr. Cowans will develop a personalized treatment plan that's just right for you. Don't let diabetes threaten to stand between you and the happy, healthy feet you deserve. Professional help is just a call or click away.
Schedule an Appointment
Ready to find out what Dr. Cowans and the Optimum Podiatry team can do for you? Contact us today to schedule an appointment.
