rose

3 years

Few days ago i had small cut on my foot

Hi doctor. Few days ago i had small cut on my foot. I’m a diabetic patient. I went to clinic. was given medication and was asked to put medication cream on my cut wound. Now wound is better. But doctor asked me to take care of my foot everyday. he mentioned about diabetic foot care. Can i know more?

Dr Ramzdhan,

4 years

Hi there! Thank you for your question. Allow me to explain briefly about diabetes complication and diabetic foot care. These complications can be divided to 2 categories which is macrovascular (affecting the big organs such as the heart) and microvascular (affecting blood vessels and nerve or various organs in the body).

Examples of this complications include skin infections, damage to the eyes where it will present with poor eyesight or detected during a visit to the optician (damage to blood vessels to the eye), erectile dysfunction (due to damage in nerves and blood vessels), kidney problems ( patients will usually present with frothy urine), heart attack ( diabetes increases the risk of heart attack) and tingling sensation or numbness in the feet (due to nerve damage).

This also can cause unwanted cuts and bruises as the person is unaware of the accident. Besides the numbness, diabetes can also cause poor healing of the wound and cuts and this will eventually lead to infection.Unwanted cuts and bruises that lead to large, non-healing wounds are common among diabetic patients.

These happens for several reasons such as diabetic neuropathy (nerve damage), high glucose levels, poor blood circulation, weakened immune system and infection. There are several ways to overcome this; stop smoking, eat a clean and diabetic friendly diet, exercise, lose weight, limit alcohol, take your medications or insulin on time, do regular self-checks, keep pressure off the wound, keep the dressing as clean as possible and remove dead tissue which will be done by your doctor.

The complication of an untreated wound includes diabetic foot ulcer and amputation. Consult your doctor if the wound last longer than a week, the symptoms worsens or there are signs of skin breakage/ infection to inspect the extent of your wound and determine the suitable management.

Please click on this link (DoctorOnCall) to talk to us privately online and discuss further about your inquiries. Thank you.

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