DIABETICS SHOULD NOT WALK BAREFOOT

posted: May 10, 2019.

For people with a loss of sensation in the feet due to diabetic neuropathy, foot covering is crucial. “Neuropathy can lessen your ability to detect a harmful object,” says podiatrist Bruce Pinker, DPM, a fellow of the American Professional Wound Care Association in White Plains, New York.

 

Dr. Bruce Pinker

 

 

Why does that matter? Diabetes can weaken the immune system, especially when blood glucose isn’t well managed. That makes it more difficult to fight off minor infections, so even small cuts are at a greater risk of becoming difficult-to-treat wounds. “Even if you have an injury on your foot that is a few days old, you risk exposure to bacteria on a sharp object or a surface you walk on,” says Pinker. “That may cause a potentially dangerous infection.” And without pain to alert you to the presence of the wound, an infection can spin out of control quickly, which could ultimately result in the loss of a toe or foot.

 

Source: Gina Roberts-Grey, Diabetes Forecast [May 2019]  

 

Courtesy of Barry Block, editor of PM News.

 

Brought to you by Doctor John A. Hardy, owner of Toronto's foot clinic, Academy Foot and Orthotic Clinics.