Diabetic doctors help patients and primary physicians determine a plan to keep diabetes under good control. Most people who are diagnosed with diabetes get the news from their primary physician.
Many primary physicians are experienced with treating diabetes. However, if your diabetes is difficult to control or there are extenuating circumstances involved, your physician may recommend that you see diabetic doctors.
Specialty doctors, diabetic or otherwise, have advanced training to work with a specific population based on diagnosis. In the case of diabetes, specialists do nothing but see people with complicated cases of diabetes or other endocrine disorders. Diabetic doctors have several extra years of education in this field.
Depending on your complications, your physician may recommend that you see a diabetic specialist who works with patients with foot or eye issues.
What Conditions Do Diabetic Foot Doctors Treat?
Diabetic foot doctors specialize in working with the diabetic population that has complications related to their feet. This population is usually the elderly or people with type II diabetes (adult onset). Diabetes can affect a person’s circulation. In such cases, circulation can be reduced or completely diminished to the feet. This can lead to problems like Gangrene if it is not dealt with in the early stages.
Most people with diabetes are told to pay attention to numbness, tingling, cold feet, and difficulty maintaining blood sugar. If these symptoms are noticed and persist, your physician will probably recommend that you see a diabetic podiatrist (foot doctor).
These doctors often times do additional testing to help determine the most effective ways to control your diabetes and increase circulation to your limbs. Their recommendations may include new medications, a new diet and exercise program, increased activity, special socks, or other special adaptive equipment. If this condition is not remedied, in severe cases, it can lead to amputation of toes, feet or limbs.
What Conditions Do Diabetic Eye Doctors Treat?
Diabetic eye doctors specialize in treating patients with severe conditions related to diabetes that affect the eyes. People with diabetes are at much higher risk of their sight deteriorating more quickly than people without this disease. Diabetic ophthalmologists (eye doctors) regularly monitor the eye sight of diabetic patients to help them maintain good vision.
As with diabetic podiatrists, diabetic eye doctors may make changes to the way a diabetic patient controls their condition. This may include recommendations for medication changes or diet and activity changes. This specialist may also make changes in eye prescriptions to include glasses, drops or other medications. In severe cases, surgery may be necessary to correct severe vision changes. Unfortunately, a horrible consequence of severe uncontrolled diabetes can be blindness. Thus, these specialists are available to help get diabetes control regulated before this happens.
Diabetes can be a very tricky and complicated disease. Thus, there are several different types of diabetic doctors available to help keep diabetic patients healthy. The main goal of all of these specialists is to work together with each other and with the patient to control diabetes and diminish the risk of any complications. Early detection and good control are the best ways to live a long and healthy life with diabetes.
