My story: Out of control BG for a year or two (>300 most of the time), found diabetes religion, been under very good, tight control since June '13.
I noticed about a year or so ago that simple little blemishes -- bug bites, pimples, etc. -- would take a long time to heal. Some, like, never. Part of the problem is I can't leave them alone, but healing wasn't a problem earlier in my life.
This healing issue hasn't seemed to improve much, if at all, since I got control of BG again. Anyone have any insight into this whole situation? Should I expect improvement over time, keeping BG under control? Technically/scientifically, what's going on?
I've found that taking good care of these small wounds with Neosporin and Nexcare watersealing bandages promotes these to heal. Undoubtedly #1 because I stop messing with them, #2 because they're kept from any infection, and #3 stay very clean.
Still, it worries me. Oddly, more severe injuries, like a full-on, bleeding laceration heal pretty normally.
I've had great recoveries from two surgeries but every now and then I'll walk into a coffee table or something and get a little thing that will linger *forever* just about. I have pretty decent control but had wonked my knuckle on a guy's belt or something in traffic in the 2012 Chicago Marathon and it didn't go away until Juneish, or maybe it went away b/c of the antibiotics for the other thing that happened then? It's weird. I'm a claims adjuster at work and can't really talk specifics but wounds/ injuries are nothing to mess around with. I've had a few other black toenails/ cellulitis and stuff (running...) and docs are always "you are totally correct to come in with this..." about them...
I don't have any experience to comment on your continued slow wound healing even though you have maintained better recent BG control. A year before I was diagnosed with T1D, I abraded my leg with a snow ski that fell off when I took a tumble. That wound took months to heal. Looking back, I could have reported this to my doctor and possibly received my T1D diagnosis earlier.
Your attention to maintaining near-normal BG control should give you the best opportunity to heal quickly. Maybe this function takes a while to fully return if your BG was high for an extended time. Perhaps waiting and watching is the best response. Good luck and congrats on getting "diabetes religion!"
I have had variability in that type of healing before D, some things will heal very quickly and vanish with no sign and others take longer and scar with redness for a while, I have very sensitive skin. Ultimately they all go away usually though. Definitely keep them covered and use the antibiotic ointment etc. And don't touch them! I found things heal much more quickly that way a long time ago. As far as D, things like yeast infections, little skin infections etc. do take longer or will not heal at all with high bg but maybe even with low bg we can take longer to heal anyway. There are a lot of metabolic and other changes that other people don't have going on once you have D imo even if your bg control is good.
Here is something about the healing aspects… I was also told not to soak feet because it lowers the ph in our skin making us more vulnerable to infections.
Effects The reason why diabetic foot ulcers are so dangerous is due to delayed wound healing. There are many causes for this---the primary one is peripheral neuropathy, in which the patient has reduced sensation in their peripheral nerves. There is also a lack of growth factors, chemicals that regulate blood vessel growth, as well as certain immune cells that are necessary to effectively heal a wound.
