Why Is Wound Care So Important for Diabetics?

Type 2 diabetes is a chronic, widespread disease that affects over 14% of the adult population in America and over 11% of its overall population. This condition is so pervasive in the human body that it can damage just about every part of it if not diagnosed and treated properly, including your endocrine, circulatory, digestive, urinary, central nervous, and reproductive systems.

Damage to the blood vessels of your circulatory system can also cause problems with wound healing, and for your legs and feet, this comes in the form of diabetic ulcers. To help with both overall health and the effects of diabetic ulcers on your feet, let’s have a look at what this illness does to wounds, the complications of diabetic foot ulcers, and how they can be treated.

If you live in the Fort Worth or Weatherford, Texas, area and need help with foot ulcers or other foot damage, Drs. Gary Driver, Glen Beede, Gregory Jaryga, and their experienced staff at Trinity Foot & Ankle Specialists can help.

How diabetes affects wounds

Diabetes is the byproduct of too much blood glucose (hyperglycemia) overwhelming your bloodstream and throwing off your insulin balance, which is a hormone that regulates how much you should have in your body. This is the primary cause of the problems with slowing down wound healing, as hyperglycemia in diabetes also keeps nutrients and oxygen from powering cells, causes malfunctions in your immune system, and leads to higher inflammation in your cells.

This issue, in combination with poor blood circulation, nerve damage, and irritated or wounded feet, causes foot ulcers, open wounds that diabetics find harder to heal from. Other common risk factors include poorly fitting shoes, bad foot hygiene, obesity, heart and kidney disease, alcohol abuse, using tobacco products, and other complications from diabetes, such as diabetic retinopathy.

Complications of diabetic foot ulcers

These ulcers (also called neurotrophic ulcers) come in different sizes and vary in color, shape, and depth, depending on where they form on your feet. The grade of ulcer indicates its severity, and that can vary from mild wounds on your upper skin to deep wounds where the bone is visible. At its worst, ulcers can become necrotic when the tissue dies (an infection known as gangrene), blackens, and can spread to your entire foot. 

Neurotrophic ulcers usually develop on parts of the feet sensitive to weight bearing and are often not painful. However, when they become severe and gangrenous, they can be very painful, releasing foul-smelling pus and causing chills, fever, nausea, and a faster heart rate. Even the mildest symptoms of foot ulcers should be seen by us as soon as possible.

Methods of treatment

Treating foot ulcers is a process similar to many other forms of wound care, which consists of treating infected tissue, removing what isn’t going to heal, and keeping it clean. Once we see the extent of the damage, we sanitize the area, drain pus if any is present, debride the area (cutting away infected or dead tissue), and apply specially treated bandages to help heal the affected area. Antibiotics are used to treat infections. 

Offloading is common after treatment, and we get you into crutches or a wheelchair to keep weight off the foot as it heals. Any other steps will depend on the severity of the ulcers, leading to major removal of tissue or amputation, which would require hospitalization.

Treating diabetes is vital for your whole body’s health. That also means treating your feet right and getting them checked out if there is any evidence of ulcers. Make an appointment with Drs. Driver, Beede, Jaryge, and the Trinity Foot & Ankle Specialists team to manage all kinds of foot ulcers today.