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By: Matt Wolf on Thu Jun 12, 2008

As anyone who’s either been afflicted with diabetes, or had a family member who’s had it knows, diabetics have to be especially mindful of podiatric health. A diabetic’s foot can be one of the hidden frontlines in the body’s battle against diabetes, and ensuring proper diabetic foot health can save much pain and misery far down the road.

You’re probably aware that diabetes is a serious disease that develops when the body does not produce enough insulin, or the insulin produced is not able to perform the functions that it must. Insulin (from the Latin, insula for island) is a hormone, produced by the pancreas gland that takes glucose from the blood, stores it as glycogen, a short term energy source. There are two types of diabetes – Type 1 diabetes is often a result of heredity and appears in the juvenile stage of development; and Type 2 is known more commonly as adult onset diabetes, and is characterized by a high levels of blood sugars, mainly resulting from a combination of poor diet and being overweight.

Because of diabetes, you may experience poor bloodflow, which can cause problems with your feet that can range from neuropathy (loss of sensation in the foot), and even lead to amputation. Therefore, it’s very important to include proper diabetic foot care as part of your diabetes treatment plan. Here are some methods to encourage healthy feet in diabetics.

Compressed Air Foot Massage
Compressed air foot massage is a treatment for neuropathy that helps increase blood flow on local skin, reduce swelling, or edema, and prevents the development of foot ulcers. Using a machine that forces compressed air through a perforated applicator head, the massotherapist massages the foot. A recent study of 57 diabetic patients found that patients receiving 15 to 20 minutes daily of compressed air foot massaging (in addition to traditional forms of therapy, such as topical medications) were able to heal existing foot ulcers on average 24 days faster than those who received no such treatment.

Orthotics
Many podiatrists recommend orthotics as a non-invasive and inexpensive way to protect an insensitive diabetic foot. Many orthotic shoes for diabetics are made with a material named Plastazote that conforms to heat and pressure, thus protecting and providing comfort to the diabetic foot.

General Maintenance
No need for a wild combination of On top of specific methods of treatment for diabetic foot, the more general rules apply here as well: take care of your diabetes by keeping your blood sugar level as normal as possible, check your feet or have a family member check your feet, wash your feet daily, keep your feet moisturized, wear shoes and seamless socks at all times, protect your feet from hot and cold, be more active, and avoid any placing your legs in any restricting situations, such as crossing your leg while watching a movie, or placing your Russell terrier on your lap for too long.

Finally, make sure that you keep all of your doctor’s appointments, and if you haven’t already, get referred to a podiatrist. Once you have a podiatrist, you should visit your podiatrist for footcare consultation every three times you see your doctor, or as required.