If you have diabetes, you need to take care of many things. For instance, diabetes may cause several health complications such as cardiovascular disease, kidney damage, hearing impairment, eye damage (retinopathy), neuropathy (nerve damage), peripheral vascular disease (a circulatory disorder that affects blood circulation due to narrowing of the blood vessels), etc.

This article will discuss in detail how diabetes can affect your feet.

How does diabetes affect your feet?

Chronically high blood sugar along with diabetes can cause two problems that may affect your feet:

• Peripheral vascular disease: High blood glucose levels may reduce blood flow to the feet, resulting in a condition known as peripheral vascular disease. Foot sores or cuts in the foot may take longer to heal due to reduced blood flow and may put you at the risk of developing foot ulcers or gangrene (death of tissue due to inadequate supply of the blood).
• Diabetic neuropathy: Uncontrolled blood sugar levels along with diabetes may damage your nerves. Damaged nerves in feet may cause loss of sensation to heat, cold, pain, or pain to the affected area. This loss of sensation is called sensory diabetic neuropathy. If you get a wound or a cut on your foot, you may not feel it because of diabetic neuropathy, and it may become infected. If the infection does get better with the treatment, the affected area of the foot may need amputation (removed surgically) to prevent the infection from spreading.

Common Foot Problems Associated With Diabetes

Foot problems in people with diabetes are prevalent; however, if it is left untreated or the wound does not heal, it may lead to infection and serious complications, such as gangrene or amputation. The following are some of the common foot problems for people who have diabetes:

• Fungal infections of the nails
• Dry skin
• Corns (a buildup of hard skin near the bony area of the toe or between the toes. They may be caused because of poor fitting of shoe wear, which causes rubbing of the toes)
• Athlete’s foot (a fungal infection that causes redness, itching, and cracking of the skin)
• Blisters (it usually occurs when your footwear rub on the same area of the skin)
• Ingrown toenails (It occurs when the edges of the nail grow into your skin, which causes pressure and pain. The edge of the nail may cause a cut in your skin, which may cause redness, pain, swelling, drainage, and infection)
• Calluses (a buildup of hard skin, usually on the underside of the foot. They are often caused by uneven weight distribution, poor fitting shoe wear, or skin problems)
• Bunions (which forms when your big toe bends towards the adjacent toe. The junction where your big toe joins the foot becomes callused and red)
• Plantar warts (look like calluses on the heel or ball of the foot. Plantar warts appear to have tiny black spots in the center or have small pinholes)
• Hammertoes (it is a condition in which the toe is bent because of a weak muscle)
• Diabetic ulcers (happen due to cut or scraps or from wearing inappropriate footwear. This ulcer may become infected, and it is vital to treat them as soon as you notice)

Complications Of Feet Due To Diabetes:

Foot problems may lead to several complications that can have a severe ongoing effect. These complications include:

• Foot deformity
• Foot ulcers
• Wounds in the foot that do not heal, which may cause infection
• Infections to skin or bone
• Gangrene
• Charcot’s foot (a rare complication that affects bone, joints, and soft tissues of the foot. The bones become weak and may break, and the joints in the ankle or foot can dislocate)