Diabetic Feet and How to Care For Them

One of the complications of diabetes which can be rather uncomfortable and even keep you awake at night is diabetes and pain in the feet, experienced as a result of diabetic peripheral neuropathy, or nerve pain.

However there may be some things you can do to help manage or alleviate the condition and to let things be a little more comfortable for yourself.

Learn to inspect your feet once or twice daily for any signs of injury or infection. The reason for this is that sometimes the feet can feel numb and so any knocks that the feet may take in your daily walkabouts may not be immediately noticed.

Good foot care is essential for anyone with this condition. It is advisable for diabetics to wash their feet every day in warm water with mild soap, to dry thoroughly, and to moisturise the feet with an approved moisturiser, preferably with an antifungal ingredient in it.

Diabetes has many complications associated with it, the most common being diabetic peripheral neuropathy which is the main cause of diabetes foot pain. Over time, high blood sugars can harm nerves throughout the body, and this process most often starts in the feet.

Wounds which do not heal on a diabetic foot are considered to be very significant complications of diabetes. Although diabetes can harm the body in many ways, ulcers that do not heal on the feet and lower legs are very common outward symptoms of the disease.

Also, the nerve damage in the feet and legs opens the potential for small wounds and lacerations to develop without there being any immediate awareness of it, at least initially.

To avoid foot problems which can result in losing a foot, leg, or toe follow these tips:

Conduct a daily foot inspection. Look for small cuts, blisters, any swelling, or nail infections. Call your doctor if you notice anything.

Wash your feet in warm water. Keep your feet clean. Use only warm water.

Moisturise your feet - not between your toes. Moisturise daily to keep dry skin from cracking, but do not moisturize between the toes as this could cause a fungal infection to develop.

Cut nails carefully. Cut them straight across and file the edges. Do not cut nails too short, as this could lead to ingrown toe nails.

Avoid the wrong type of socks. Avoid the type with tight elastic tops, which could potentially reduce circulation. Do not wear thick or bulky socks which fit poorly and irritate the skin.

Never walk barefoot, even when you are at home! Always wear shoes or slippers.

Take care of your diabetes condition and help yourself to avoid any possible feet problems. Keep your blood sugar levels controlled. There are plenty of good dietary suggestions on the internet these days to support you in your regular regime. Some even purport to be able to cure diabetes, so do not let yourself think that, once diagnosed, you are doomed forever. There are treatments available that can help.

How to End Chronic Peripheral Neuropathy & Diabetic Nerve Pain

There are things you can do to prevent diabetic nerve pain. The first is the most important. Keep your blood sugar in good ranges as much as you can. A hemoglobin A1C under 7 means you are doing just that. Most doctors check type 2 diabetics with this test every three months.

Next, you need to exercise. Legs have the largest muscles in your body, and using them by walking, biking, swimming, dancing, and every other way you can think of, brings back the best returns for weight loss, stamina, strength, lowering blood sugar, and reducing nerve damage by stimulating the muscles around them.

The trouble is that legs are attached to feet, and if your feet hurt, exercising your legs gets tougher. It's more likely you'll avoid exercising if you have diabetic nerve pain in your feet.

It's hard to accept this sometimes, but it's true - foot pain is improved by exercise. That's exactly why good shoes are so important. Diabetic shoes will improve foot pain by supporting without binding.

Next are creams, patches and physical therapy. Capsaicin creams, which you can find on the store shelves beside the athlete's foot medications, have something in them that improves your diabetic nerve pain naturally. It comes from cayenne pepper.

If the cream makes your hands burn after you rub your feet with it, use some rubber or plastic gloves. You'll find them in the pharmacy section too. Don't give up if it doesn't work at first. It takes a couple of weeks of use, but it's worth it.

Lidocaine patches are applied to the skin of painful areas to numb the nerves. Aspirin and other nonsteroidal anti-inflamatories like ibuprofen also help, and if you take them a few minutes before walking, you might be able to exercise longer. (Tylenol has no anti-inflammatory effect so it might not do much.)

Physical therapy, which is simply exercises and stretches tailored to a specific body part, can get you back up on your feet. And ehow.com has lots of free videos of physical therapy designed for feet, ankles and legs. The stretches that help me the most are for the bottoms of my feet, the plantar fascia.

What you eat can help too. Antioxidants are found in the superfood family, mostly fruits and vegetables, and they have been shown to improve diabetic nerve pain and even reverse nerve damage. That makes them at least worth a try. The best ones have B vitamins in them. And a daily dose of vitamin D is great for pain too. How do you get it?

More details: http://www.theneuropathysolution.com/

It's time for us type 2 diabetics with nerve pain to get back on our feet. We won't let diabetes take our toes, not without a fight.