by Cherl Clark RN, CDE
10. November 2011 06:33
You may have found yourself in this situation:
You scraped your foot while working outside. You actually didn’t even know it had happened until you saw that your foot was bleeding. After you washed and dried the area it appeared fine. A couple of weeks later you notice that your foot is swollen, red, and painful to touch, plus a dark scab has covered the area. You are now concerned because you have heard people with diabetic foot wounds can develop complications quickly.
In this situation or when you develop a diabetic foot ulcer, the most important thing to do is to go see your doctor for an assessment of the wound and circulation. Good blood flow to the area is very important for healing. Diabetes can reduce blood flow to legs and feet even when you do not have a diabetic wound. Other factors such as blood sugar control, smoking and diabetes eye or kidney problems can also be a risk for slow healing. The doctor says that because you have feeling loss in your feet (Peripheral Neuropathy), you were unable to feel the pain when you cut your foot. Your wound is cleaned by removing the dead tissue from the area, which is called debriding. A treatment regimen is set up for you to follow when you get home for good diabetic foot care You will need to clean and cover the wound twice a day with wound dressings and antibiotics are prescribed for the infection. Following the treatment plan ordered by the doctor is very important for the wound to heal.
The underlying cause of this situation is uncontrolled diabetes which will also need to be managed more closely starting right away!
Has this ever happened to you? What prevention steps can you recommend?