Article title: Keep Your Feet and Skin Healthy: NIDDK
Conditions: diabetes, corns, blisters, Ingrown toenails, bunions, Plantar warts (type of Warts), Hammertoes, Athlete's foot
Source: NIDDK
Too much sugar in the blood for a long time causes diabetes problems. This high blood sugar can damage many parts of the body, such as the heart, blood vessels, and kidneys. Diabetes problems can be scary, but there is a lot you can do to prevent them or slow them down.
This booklet is about feet and skin problems caused by diabetes. You will learn the things you can do each day and during each year to stay healthy and prevent diabetes problems.
| High blood sugar can cause feet and skin problems. | |
| Follow the healthy eating plan that you and your doctor or dietitian have worked out. Eat your meals and snacks at around the same times each day. | |
| Be active a total of 30 minutes most days. Ask your doctor what activities are best for you. | |
| Take your diabetes medicine at the same times each day. | |
| Check your blood sugar every day. Each time you check your blood sugar, write the number in your record book. Call your doctor if your numbers are too high or too low for 2 to 3 days. | |
| Check your feet every day for cuts, blisters, sores, swelling, redness, or sore toenails. | |
| Brush and floss your teeth and gums every day. | |
| Don't smoke. |
High blood sugar from diabetes causes two problems that can hurt your feet:
| Make sure you wear shoes that fit well. |
These two problems can work together to cause a foot problem.
For example, you get a blister from shoes that do not fit. You do not
feel the pain from the blister because you have nerve damage in your foot.
Next, the blister gets infected. If blood sugar is high, the extra sugar
feeds the germs. Germs grow and the infection gets worse. Poor blood flow
to your legs and feet can slow down healing. Once in a while a bad
infection never heals. The infection might cause gangrene (GANG-green). If
a person has gangrene, the skin and tissue around the sore die. The area
becomes black and smelly.
To keep gangrene from spreading, a doctor
may have to do surgery to cut off a toe, foot, or part of a leg. Cutting
off a body part is called an amputation (amp-yoo-TAY-shun).
Look at your feet every day to check for problems. |
| Always wear slippers or shoes to protect your feet. |
Take off your shoes and socks so your doctor will check your feet. |
Anyone can have corns, blisters, and athlete's foot. If you
have diabetes and your blood sugar stays high, these foot problems can
lead to infections.
Corns and calluses are thick layers of skin caused by too
much rubbing or pressure on the same spot. Corns and calluses can become
infected.
Blisters can form if shoes always rub the same spot. Wearing
shoes that do not fit or wearing shoes without socks can cause blisters.
Blisters can become infected.
Ingrown toenails happen when an edge of the nail grows into the
skin. The skin can get red and infected. Ingrown toenails can happen if
you cut into the corners of your toenails when you trim them. If toenail
edges are sharp, smooth them with an emery board. You can also get an
ingrown toenail if your shoes are too tight.
A bunion forms when your big toe slants toward the small toes
and the place between the bones near the base of your big toe grows big.
This spot can get red, sore, and infected. Bunions can form on one or both
feet. Pointy shoes may cause bunions. Bunions often run in the family.
Surgery can remove bunions.
Plantar warts are caused by a virus. The warts usually form on
the bottoms of the feet and tend to go away without
treatment.
Hammertoes form when a foot muscle gets weak. The weakness may
be from diabetic nerve damage. The weakened muscle makes the tendons in
the foot shorter and makes the toes curl under the feet. You may get sores
on the bottoms of your feet and on the tops of your toes. The feet can
change their shape. Hammertoes can cause problems with walking and finding
shoes that fit well. Hammertoes can run in the family. Wearing shoes that
are too short can also cause hammertoes.
Dry and cracked skin can happen because the nerves in your legs
and feet do not get the message to keep your skin soft and moist. Dry skin
can become cracked and allow germs to enter. If your blood sugar is high,
sugar feeds the germs and makes the infection worse.
Athlete's foot is a fungus that causes redness and cracking of
the skin. It is itchy. The cracks between the toes allow germs to get
under the skin. If blood sugar is high, the sugar feeds the germs and
makes the infection worse. The infection can spread to the toenails and
make them thick, yellow, and hard to cut.
All of these foot problems can be taken care of. Tell your doctor about any foot problem as soon as you see it.
Special shoes can be made to fit softly around your sore feet or feet that have changed shape. These special shoes help protect your feet. Medicare and other health insurance programs may pay for special shoes. Talk to your doctor about how and where to get them.
| Drinking fluids helps keep your skin moist and healthy. |
Diabetes can hurt your skin in two ways:
| Keep your skin moist by washing with a mild soap and using lotion or cream after you wash. |
Diabetes Teachers (nurses, dietitians, pharmacists, and other health professionals)
To find a diabetes teacher near you, call the
American Association of Diabetes Educators
toll-free at 1-800-TEAMUP4 (1-800-832-6874),
or look on the Internet at http://www.aadenet.org/ and
click on "Find an Educator."
Recognized Diabetes Education Programs (teaching programs approved by the American Diabetes Association)
To find a program near you, call toll-free at
1-800-DIABETES (1-800-342-2383), or
see www.diabetes.org/education/edustate2.asp
on the Internet.
Dietitians
To find a dietitian near you, call the American
Dietetic Association's National Center for
Nutrition and Dietetics toll-free at
1-800-366-1655, or look on the Internet at
http://www.eatright.org/ and click on "Find a Dietitian."
Government
The National Institute of Arthritis and
Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS)
is part of the National Institutes of Health. To
learn more about feet and skin problems, write
or call the National Institute of Arthritis and
Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Information Clearinghouse, 1 AMS Circle, Bethesda, MD
20892-3675, (301) 495-4484; or see
www.nih.gov/niams on the Internet.
The "Prevent Diabetes Problems" series includes seven booklets that can help you learn more about how to prevent diabetes problems.
For free single printed copies of these booklets, call, write, fax, or email the
National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse
1 Information Way
Bethesda, MD 20892-3560
Phone: (301) 654-3327
Fax: (301) 907-8906
Email: http://www.niddk.nih.gov/tools/mail_ndic.htm
The National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse thanks the people who helped review or field-test this booklet.
| For American Association of
Diabetes Educators Lynn Grieger, R.D., C.D.E. Arlington, VT Celia Levesque, R.N., C.D.E. Montgomery, AL Teresa McMahon, Pharm.D., C.D.E. Seattle, WA Barbara Schreiner, R.N., M.N., C.D.E. Galveston, TX For American Diabetes Association Diabetes Research and Training Center |
Diabetes Research and Training
Center Indiana University School of Medicine Indianapolis, IN Madelyn Wheeler, M.S., R.D., F.A.D.A., C.D.E. Diabetes Research and Training Center Grady Health System Health Care Financing |
Indian Health Service Albuquerque, NM Ruth Bear, R.D., C.D.E. Dorinda Bradley, R.N., C.D.E. Terry Fisher, R.N. Lorraine Valdez, R.N., C.D.E. Indian Health Service Medlantic Research Center Texas Diabetes Council |
1 Information Way
Bethesda, MD 20892-3560
Phone: (301) 654-3327
Fax: (301) 907-8906
Email: http://www.niddk.nih.gov/tools/mail_ndic.htm
The National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse (NDIC) is a service of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). NIDDK is part of the National Institutes of Health under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Established in 1978, the clearinghouse provides information about diabetes to people with diabetes and to their families, health care professionals, and the public. NDIC answers inquiries; develops, reviews, and distributes publications; and works closely with professional and patient organizations and Government agencies to coordinate resources about diabetes.
Publications produced by the clearinghouse are carefully reviewed for scientific accuracy, content, and readability.
This e-text is not copyrighted. The clearinghouse encourages users of this e-pub to duplicate and distribute as many copies as desired.
NIH Publication No. 00-4282
May 2000
e-text posted: August 2000
» Next page: Keep your heart and blood vessels healthy: NIDDK
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