Battling diabetes heightens the risk of having sores and ulcers in your legs, feet, hands, or the folds of your stomach. Failure to manage diabetes properly often leads to complications like foot ulcers, where the skin tissue breaks down and exposes the layers beneath. These open sores and wounds typically do not heal the way they should due to poor blood circulation. If you need Yonkers wound care services with a difference, look no further than Premier Vascular.
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What are the causes of diabetic foot ulcers?
Not every diabetic patient suffers from wounds that are difficult to heal. These open sores usually happen because of the following:
Poor blood circulation
The circulation system transmits blood, oxygen, and nutrients throughout your body, and when something interferes with normal blood flow, signs of poor circulation are present. You may experience tingling, muscle cramps, throbbing pain, and numbness in the extremities. Your physician will be interested in managing the root causes. In this case, lack of oxygen and necessary nutrients make it harder for foot ulcers to heal.
High glucose levels
Hyperglycemia or high blood sugar mainly results from dietary issues and sedentary lifestyles. The signs may take several days or weeks to present, and then you start to feel unquenchable thirst, blurry vision, fatigue, and excess urination. High glucose levels slow the healing of a foot ulcer as it may keep getting re-infected, particularly when exposed.
Nerve damage
Nerve damage is an enduring effect that can make you lose feeling in your feet. You may experience pain or a stinging sensation, but this condition reduces sensitivity to pain in the foot. If you get a wound on the foot, you may not feel pain, and it may develop into ulcers oozing pus, or have a lump.
What are the risk factors for diabetic foot ulcers?
Anyone battling diabetes stands the chance of getting ulcers in the extremities. Some factors heighten the risk of foot ulcers as below:
- Being overweight
- Wearing poor quality or ill-fitting shoes, including workout gear
- Failure to clean and dry your feet properly
- Excessive consumption of alcohol
- Ailments such as heart and kidney disease
- Consuming tobacco
- Advanced age
How can I heal a diabetic foot ulcer?
Foot ulcers are prevalent among diabetes patients, so it is prudent to take better care of your feet. Your physician will implore you to wear compression wraps or foot braces to prevent calluses or corn. Remember, any injury to your foot could pave the way for an ulcer that may not respond to medical interventions. If you already have an ulcer, the doctor will extract tissue around the infection for lab testing and diagnosis. They will then determine which antibiotic or anticlotting regimen to prescribe you.
Surgical intervention is another remedy that will save your leg from amputation. The surgeon will shave down the infected bone or cut out bunions and other abnormalities to alleviate pressure around the ulcer. Please book a consultation with your specialist to examine and start treatment.