I didn’t think anything would happen to my feet but now having some issues. I have noticed that my toes are getting fungal infections. Just went to the dermotologist and she took a sample of the crud from one of my toes to culture and also said I had an infection on the bottom of my feet, plus some on my thumb… so now am looking to take better care of my feet/nails before things get really out of control. It is sort of scary seeing these types of problems appearing. I was also told to soak my feet and hands (nails) in vinegar/water for 5 mins to help get rid of the fungus. Anyone else have problems with fungus?
Toenail fungus is very common, diabetes or not. Since diabetes is associated with high blood sugar it will tend to provide a very good home for fungus. I have had it and have been able to treat if very successfully with tea tree oil. You just paint a layer on the nail. Once toenail fungus gets into your entire nail bed you will need to treat the nail for a long time until the entire nail has grown out fungus free.
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i dont usually go barefoot, but the instructions to examine my feet thoroughly and dry them completely often go unheeded. saying that, i am way more careful than i used to be. i always have compeed in my bag and try not to wear shoes that will give me blisters, even if they are really cute. a new pair of shoes just did give me a bit of a scab last week, and against my better judgement, i ripped it off last night. sometimes you just cant help it, like popping a pimple. as soon as i had done it and it stated bleeding, i thought of diabetic foot ulcers and could that little thing turn into one and omg, what if…PERISH THE THOUGHT!
the DE never showed me any pictures of diabetic foot but i saw plenty of them in my ma´s nursing books-i used to love to look at the gross pictures, especially for a wound care class she did.
i just went to the doc for cystitis-lovely- and i had to go give a urine sample and deliver it to a nurse id never met before. she looked me up on the computer and said, oh, youre diabetic. how are your feet? the fact that all medical personnel constantly ask me about my feet makes me very aware that i need to pay attention to them.
I’m very lucky. More than I knew until I read this thread.
I’m 54, diagnosed 16 years ago. I’ve been reckless and out of control at times in that period, going navy seal commando tight controller and on insulin about 3 years ago.
In my entire diabetic “career”, I’ve never paid much attention to my feet. I mean yeah, I’m intimately aware of them and any injuries on them as routine, but not because of diabetes – just “normal” sort of awareness. I go barefoot regularly, wear flip flops most of the time in warmer months, and get cuts and scrapes all the time. My preferred exercise is a vigorous 30 minute walk on the beach barefoot (gasp!) at the edge of the surf. So any injuries I have are getting assaulted with biology-laden seawater several times a week.
I had a bit of neuropathy back when I was wildly out of control right before I started insulin, but that resolved, and I always pass the poke tests with that little wire, just recently for my annual physical.
The one thing I have noticed of late is that my feet take FOREVER to heal when i get an injury. To some extent, this is true for everyone – feet are poorly perfused, especially toes, compared to other parts of the body. Still, in the last year I’ve found if I’m not very careful and attentive to wound care, a small cut or scrape will take forever to heal.
So, I’m extremely lucky that I can treat my feet mostly like I don’t have diabetes. When they do get an injury, it isn’t a significant problem – it doesn’t get seriously infected, grow worse, etc. Only problem is an injury can linger on forever if I’m careless with it. If I keep it clean, antibiotic ointment on it, and covered, it will heal up in a week or so.
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I don’t take any particular precautions with my feet aside from the normal stuff, though one thing I have never done (and may never do) is get a pedicure. I’ve just heard too many horror stories, and those places smell so strongly of chemicals that it can’t possibly be healthy. I’m also not a fan of high heels, because I twist my ankle enough with regular shoes. I’m sure I’d break an ankle or a wrist trying to wear high heels.
I do make sure to wear good shoes, but that’s more due to genetic flat-footedness and super wide-footedness and extremely tight-calfedness and weak-ankledness that have resulted in bunions and arthritis and plantar fasciitis and tendonitis and God knows what else because I waited 10 years after my feet started hurting to actually see about getting orthotics. So now I need heavy-duty custom orthotics so that each step doesn’t destroy my feet any further. No flip flops for me. I recently bought sandals that can accommodate orthotics because trying to wear normal sandals without orthotics is painful torture.
About 10 years ago I sliced one of my big toes open on a floor grate and had to get four stiches. That cut didn’t seem to take very long to heal at all. Just yesterday I stepped on a shard of glass in my kitchen (I shattered a dish on Friday and thought I’d gotten all the glass, but apparently not!). I pressed on it till it stopped bleeding, rubbed it with an alcohol swab (ouch), put Polysporin on it, and then put some bandaids on top. I’d be surprised if it isn’t healed within a week.
I’m hoping that the next 50 years of diabetes continues as smoothly feet-wise as the previous 25 have.
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Well, while not diagnosed as long ago as you @Dave26, I’m the same age now… I do find myseld barefoot or in some kind of sandal most of the time - even winter (though I also wear Ugg boots - barefoot, of course). I do not have any loss of feeling in my feet, but I do pay them some attention, So far, I do not see any slower healing of wounds on my feet (or elsewhere), but am conscious of it. Walked 6 miles yesterday in “barefoot” sandals, but the shoes slipped a bit and I ended up with a couple hot spots - no blisters, but somewhat sore. I’ll be something I pay attention to over the next few days.
Iy doesn’t pay to ignore your feet. You can check them at home monthly using a Medipin diabetictoestest. You really do not want to have an undetected neuropathy!
Not using got water?! I didn’t know that was a thing. ■■■■ I have a lot of hot baths…
Well if it doesn’t affect you negatively it’s prolly ok. I was told the ph is different in your feet and this can be affected by soaking them etc. Heat\ hot water can cause insulin sensitivity and bad lows if you soak for too long, so hot tubs are a bad idea.
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