Category: blog

blog

DIABETIC FOOT DISEASE & DIABETES FOOT CARE IMPORTANCE

Post author By arun karthik
Post date October 18, 2023
No Comments on DIABETIC FOOT DISEASE & DIABETES FOOT CARE IMPORTANCE

DIABETIC FOOT DISEASE & DIABETES FOOT CARE IMPORTANCE

One of the major complications of diabetes is that it affects the feet , leading to non healing wounds ,called TROPHIC ULCERS in the bottom of the feet. In severe cases, this can even lead to amputation at the knee level !.

Let’s understand the diabetic foot symptoms . Now this process happens in 4 stages.

1. DIABETIC NEUROPATHY/ (DIABETIC NERVE DISEASE):

Firstly, the nerves of the feet get damaged due to uncontrolled sugar levels. At this stage, patients may have symptoms like burning sensation in the feet , numbness or cramps in the feet,especially at night . At times, this can be unbearable. At this stage proper control of sugar levels ,and certain medicines to alleviate the pain can remarkably reverse the damage due to diabetic neuropathy.

2. CALLOUS :

But more often than not,people ignore these symptoms ,leading to the second stage, called callous formation . Callous are thickening of the skin in the bottom of the feet,especially below the great toe,due to abnormal pressure points, caused due to diabetic neuropathy. At this stage , you may develop pain in the area where the callous is present,while walking. In time,small punched out ring-like holes form in the location of callouses.These are called TROPHIC ULCERS, ,the third stage .In our centre, our podiatric (diabetic foot care) department , prevent formation of such ulcers,by a process called chiropody. What we do is,carefully remove the hard callous with special blades, so that the pressure is relieved. This process, called chiropody, is like nail cutting , and is virtually painless.

3. DIABETIC FOOT ULCER :

Once a diabetic foot ulcer develops, it is extremely difficult to get rid of it. The 2 important treatment aspects are ,sugar control and foot pressure relief.No amount of antibiotics or dressings can heal the wound.Many of you who are reading this article, may have experienced this, with your family members. The wound keeps coming back and forth,despite several dressings. Using specialised instruments ,called BIOTHESIOMETER ,DOPPLER & PODISCANNER, we scan the extent of nerve damage, blood vessel blocks and abnormal pressure points in the feet ,and ,advise specific diabetic footwear for pressure relief.Only with proper pressure relief,will the diabetic foot ulcers heal.

4. AMPUTATION :

If these ulcers are ignored, one fine day the toes (most commonly great toe ) gcan get infected, leading to amputation of the toe.This is the advanced stage, where the patient is referred for surgery. If the blood flow to the feet has been compromised due to diabetes, then people may often lose their limb as well. This is what we try to prevent at all costs.If you do not want to land in this situation , we have a simple mantra – CONTROL YOUR DIABETES FROM EARLY ON.

blog

DIABETES TREATMENT:

Diabetes treatment essentially consists of 3 pillars-Diet,Exercise & medications .Unless these 3 areas are properly addressed ,it is near to impossible to control diabetes,especially in the long term. However, these three areas have to be tailor made for each individual and can never be one size fits all . For example, the dietary needs of a door to door salesman can be much higher than that of a software engineer or a banker. Similarly, exercise regimen for each of these individuals may vary. Many a times, we come across neglected diabetics,whose legs have been amputated, where the scope for exercise might be limited . To make the long story short every individual who walks into our centre gets a customised treatment plan as per his or her requirement, lifestyle and other demographics.

DIET:

Diet plan forms the crux of diabetes treatment. More disciplined your meal plan, the lower your medications. And, just like you, we don’t like medicines either, and we try to keep it to a minimum.In fact lowest possible is one of our key result areas.

Coming back to diet, every time you come to our centre, our dietitians enquire about how your diet plan was and were you successful in implementing and what are your pitfalls. Let’s face it,not many can stick to diet discipline 100%. And we know that as well. However, the fact is, you can certainly have some cheat days and still control your diabetes. How to do it, we will teach you some great hacks. Our You tube channel has some fantastic diet plans which are ready for your use. After thoroughly understanding your daily chores , we help you alter your diet with healthier options ,thus helping youget the best of both worlds.You can choose from a range of patterns like a 2 meal pattern, 3 meal pattern & a 5 meal pattern. Also,you have a choice of south indian, north indian ,vegetarian,non vegetarian and jain diet as well.

EXERCISE:

Exercise is an integral part of diabetes treatment. People who exercise regularly not only have lower chances of getting diabetes, but exercise also reduces the number of medicines which you might be taking.. A brisk walk for about 45 minutes a day is all that is required to reduce your HbA1c by about 1% roughly. For people who have arthritis we conduct physiotherapy sessions to reduce pain and increase mobility..

MEDICINES:

We know that you hate medicines,…right ? So do we. But we gotta do what we gotta do. We try our best to give you the least number of medicines required , to get your sugar under control.The game plan is to delay , or possibly defer potent medicines or insulin as much as possible .

blog

DIABETES PREVENTION:

PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE- THIS ADAGE CANNOT BE MORE APT FOR ANYTHING ELSE THAN DIABETES. IT IS EASIER, AND CERTAINLY POSSIBLE TO PREVENT DEVELOPING DIABETES, THAN TREATING IT. THIS IS ATTEMPTED IN EVERY STAGE OF NATURAL HISTORY OF DIABETES , IN OUR CENTRE.

PRIMODIAL PREVENTION:

PRIMORDIAL PREVENTION IS TREATING BEFORE ONSET. IT INVOVES IDENTIFYING PEOPLE AT RISK. FOR EXAMPLE , PEOPLE WITH STRONG FAMILY HISTORY OF DIABETES,OBESE &OVERWEIGHT INDUVIDUALS,SEDENTARY JOB PROFILE, ARE ENCOURAGED TO UNDERGO SCREENING & RISK ASSESMENT. THIS IS GENERALLY DONE TO ATTENDANTS OR FAMILY MEMBERS WHEN THEY ACCOMPANY THE PATIENTS TO OUR CENTRE (FREE OF CHARGES TOO). AND MANY A TIMES, BODERLINE CASES HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED AND RISK FACTORS MITIGATED WITH LIFESTYLE CORRECTIONS &DIET MODIFICATIONS IN THE EARLIER STAGES ITSELF.

PRIMARY PREVENTION:

PRIMAY PREVENTION IS ,SIMPLY PUT,PREVENTING BODERLINE CASES FROM BECOMING DIABETICS. THIS IS NOT DONE WITH USING MEDICINES. BUT MEASURED, CUSTOMISED CHANGES ARE DONE TO THE DIET AND EXERCISE REGIMEN OF PREDIABETIC INDUVIDUALS , ATTEMPTING TO REVERSE THEM TO NORMAL STAGE, OR ATLEAST KEEPING THEM IN PRE DIABETES ITSELF.

SECODARY PREVENTION:

THIS IS THE MOST COMMON CATEGORY. NOW THAT YOU HAVE DEVELOPED DIABETES ,WE WORK ALONG WITH YOU,EDUCATING,MOTIVATING , AND GUIDING YOU TO MAINTAIN GOOD CONTROL OF DIABETES,THROUGHOUT YOUR LIFE , IN ORDER TO PREVENT DEVELOPING COMPLICATIONS & DAMAGING YOUR ORGANS.AND BE INFORMED, IT IS CERTAINLY DOABLE.

TERTIARY PREVENTION:

WELL,THIS IS THE STAGE WERE WE DON’T WANT YOU TO LAND IN. USUALLY SEEN IN NEGLECTED CASES OF DIABETES WHO COME TO US A BIT TOO LATE,THE ORGAN DAMAGES HAVE ALREADY BEGUN . UNFORTUNATELY, NOT ALL DAMAGES CAN BE REVERSED. WE TRY OUR BEST TO PREVENT END STAGE DAMAGE SUCH AS RENAL FAILIURE, HEART ATTACK,,BLINDNESS OR LIMB AMPUTATIONS.

DIABETIC FOOT DISEASE & DIABETES FOOT CARE IMPORTANCE

DIABETES TREATMENT:

DIABETES PREVENTION:

GET IN TOUCH

BOOK APPOINTMENT