Poorly controlled diabetes can have adverse effects on your legs. Ineffective circulation and nerve damage likely to happen because of poor management may cause foot infections, blisters, pain, and foot ulcers. In severe cases, the infections will spread to the entire foot, damaging it and other organs, thus threatening your life. In such an instance, your doctor might suggest an amputation to prevent the severe infections from affecting your life quality. However, not all diabetes patients experience chronic complications. Are you a diabetes patient in need of help to properly manage your symptoms? If so, Bakersfield diabetic foot care might be of great help.
What happens to your feet when you have diabetes?
Diabetes happens in two forms, type 1 (insulin deficiency) and type 2 (insulin resistance). Insulin is a vital hormone in the human body that helps the cells absorb blood sugar. However, when the cells malfunction, the process fails to flow effectively, allowing sugars to continue circulating in your blood, resulting in health issues. For instance, extended periods of high sugar levels in your system might adversely affect your feet due to nerve damage. Thus, the foot problems you are likely to have with diabetes include:
- Diabetic neuropathy
You are at an increased risk of developing a peripheral vascular disease (PVD), especially if you find it challenging to control your blood sugar. The condition mainly happens when fatty deposits minimize blood circulation by narrowing the blood vessels leading to and coming from the extremities like the hands and legs. Reduced blood in such areas might lead to infections and ulcers that might take time to heal properly.
- Diabetic ulcers
A less significant percentage, around 7% of diabetes patients, develop diabetic ulcers. A combination of symptoms like poor circulation and nerve damage may prevent you from noticing the ulcers until they become severe. The ulcers might make walking uncomfortable with shoes and socks, worsening their debilitating symptoms. Failure to seek medical assistance, the foot ulcers will damage your feet, causing infections.
Diabetes might also increase your risk of developing blisters in different ways. For instance, diabetic neuropathy makes it difficult for an individual to know when the shoes are not of the right fit, creating room for the onset of blisters.
- Foot infections
You are likely to have foot infections when you fail to properly treat or care for your foot ulcers. Unfortunately, the infections might spread to your bloodstream, damaging your vital organs, thus endangering your life. In other instances, the infections might result in gangrene which prompts tissue death. As a result, amputating might be your only option for preventing the spread of the infection to your other body parts.
- Amputation
Though amputation is usually the last resort in managing the control of infections to other parts of the leg, the treatment is usually an option when the ulcers fail to respond to medication, advancing to chronic infections.
Chronic diabetic foot complications can threaten a patient’s life, especially when the wound infections advance, spreading to other body parts. Unfortunately, the patient might succumb even when the surgeon amputates the limb to curb the spread. Call your doctor for guidance to know how you can care for your diabetic foot.
