Image by Jill A. Brown via Flickr
Image via WikipediaWhen a person has diabetes they also can develop neuropathy, which can cause damage to the nerves in the feet and can lead to loss of feeling and sensation, there is the heightened danger of developing ulcers from this loss of sensation or protective threshold. Since people with diabetes lose the feeling in their feet, ulcers develop easier because they do not feel the discomfort that the ulcers cause. Since calluses are caused by the constant rubbing of a certain part of the shoe on a person’s foot, again – it isn’t felt and so the problem develops into a ulcer. Without neuropathy, this is usually felt and taken care of, but someone with neuropathy can’t feel the constant rubbing. Other issues can arise as a result of this rubbing – the next stage of an ulcer that hasn’t been taken care of can become very dangerous and can possibly lead to infection or even worse loss of limb. The danger comes in the next stage as a result of diabetic complications. A callus can be taken care of easily with routine visit to your podiatrist. But the danger arises when a callus is fully developed and the constant rubbing continues to wear on the callus, the skin can and probably will split open and become an ulcer. For a diabetic, a wound raises the risk of infections that can lead to that person having to have their foot amputated if it goes untreated or ignored. This is why it is extremely important to make sure that if you have neuropathy, you need to check your feet daily! If you catch the developing callus early, you’ll be able to take care of it before it gets worse. It is highly recommended that you visit your podiatrist to treat the callus rather than getting treatments from the store, because your podiatrist can treat the callus more effectively and the callus will be controlled, rather than continue to develop and your podiatrist can make sure other problems do not arise. Make sure you check your feet daily! Getting that callus treated could save your foot from becoming a problem in the future!
If you do not have a podiatrist, Dr. Adam Teichman at East Penn Foot & Ankle Associates would love to be your podiatrist. Check out our website at www.eastpennfoot.com or give us a call at 610-432-9593.
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