Diabetes is a condition that affects your body’s ability to produce insulin, and that has consequences for every area of your body. One such area of your body that can be affected by uncontrolled diabetes is your feet. Below, we take a look at some of the common foot problems that are associated with poorly managed diabetes.
Diabetic Foot Problems
Here’s a look at some of the conditions that can set in when you don’t closely monitor your insulin levels:
- Diabetic Neuropathy – Diabetes can wreck havoc on your nerves, and the nerves that are most commonly affected are the ones in your feet. Nerve damage can lead to a lack of sensation known as diabetic neuropathy. Lack of sensation on your feet opens you up to a whole host of additional problems, most notably that you don’t realize that you have a cut or a sore on your foot. The blood supply to this area is already lacking, so untreated sores can easily become infected. In extreme cases, infections can lead to the loss of a limb.
- Foot Ulcers – Ulcers can occur anywhere on our bodies when there is too much continued pressure on one area. Nerve damage from diabetes can cause problems with the muscles in our feet, which can change a person’s gait. This altered gait and foot alignment can put extra pressure on areas of the foot that can’t easily handle the extra stress, leading to ulcer development. Roughly 1 in 10 people with diabetes will develop a foot ulcer at some point in their life.
- Peripheral Vascular Disease – As we alluded to above, diabetes affects the flow of blood to your feet. Without good healthy blood flow, you are prone to other maladies. In this instance, poor blood flow is known as peripheral vascular disease, which is a circulation disorder that affects the blood vessels away from your heart. If you get an infection in your feet, it may not properly heal because healthy blood can’t circulate as needed. This leaves diabetics susceptible to gangrene, which is the death of tissue due to a lack of blood.
- Charcot Arthropathy – This condition is a result of neuropathy in the foot. It is classified as the progressive degeneration of a weight bearing joint, which is coupled with bone destruction, bone resorption and eventual deformity. This can lead to fractures or dislocations of the ankle joint with little or no additional trauma to the area.
Atlanta Diabetic Foot Doctor
As you can see, diabetes is a serious condition that can have consequences for your feet if you’re not careful. Talk to your foot and ankle specialist if you have any questions about managing your condition.