A diabetic injury can be very dangerous if it goes unnoticed or untreated. This is because infections which result from an injury can lead to severe tissue or organ damage. Even small breaks in the skin can result in serious infections if not properly treated with ointment, bandages, or antibiotics. This is why it is recommended that diabetics use skin moisturizers regularly.
Preventing a diabetic injury is the best way to avoid complications. Always be cautious around sharp objects can help you accomplish this. Be sure to always clear doorways and walkways, hold on to railings when you are using the stairs, avoid slippery surface whenever possible, and use traction mats in the bath or shower. It is also important, as a diabetic, to check regularly for any sores or breaks in the skin.
A person with diabetic neuropathy, or diabetic nerve damage, should be particularly careful to avoid a diabetic injury. This causes numbness in the affected area, therefore burns, fractures, cuts, scrapes, and sores can easily go unnoticed. The decreased sensation can also cause coordination problems as well as joint and muscle weakness which can lead a person to frequently trip, fall, or bump and scrape against objects.
Diabetic Foot Injury
A diabetes foot injury carries a high risk of foot loss. In fact, according to MedPageToday.com, diabetics who develop foot infection “have a 55-fold greater risk of being hospitalized than diabetics without foot infections and a 154-fold higher risk of losing the affected foot.” In order to prevent a diabetic injury such as this and to avoid infections you should keep your blood sugar under control, you should not smoke, and you should get your food examined by your doctor at least once a year to find out if you have any unnoticed nerve damage. In addition, diabetics should follow a daily routine to ensure that injuries of the feet do not occur or have not occurred. Please follow these simple steps:
- Check your feet and toes daily. Look carefully at the top, sides, heels, soles and between your toes.
- Wash your feet and toes with lukewarm water and mild soap every day.
- Always test the temperature of your water with your fingers or elbows before putting your feet in the water. This is because you may not be able to tell if the water is too hot by your feet.
- Always dry your foot well, especially between your toes.
- After bathing moisten your skin on your feet with a moisturizer, lotion, petroleum jelly, lanolin or oil. Don’t put any moisturizer between your toes, as this can lead to infections.
- Be careful when trimming your nails, as this surprisingly results in diabetic injury often. Ask your doctor to show you the safest way and allow him/her to properly treat any calluses or corns; do not attempt to do so yourself.
