Diabetes Foot Care: Self-Management Strategies for Ulcer Prevention

This essay discusses the critical issue of foot ulcers in diabetic patients and emphasizes the importance of preventative measures and self-care. It highlights that individuals with diabetes are prone to developing foot ulcers, which can lead to morbidity, loss of functionality, and mortality. The combination of foot ulcers and diabetes mellitus increases the risk of amputation due to conditions like peripheral neuropathy, ischaemia, and deep infections. The essay underscores that most foot complications can be prevented through proper diabetes management, foot care, and appropriate footwear. Self-care practices, including regular inspection of feet and shoes, washing feet, and reporting any changes or concerns, are essential for early identification and prevention of complications. Education on proper foot care techniques is vital, and the essay notes that various scientific organizations provide guidelines for diabetic patients. Ultimately, the essay argues that implementing foot care techniques and possessing the knowledge to do so can significantly improve outcomes for patients at risk of diabetes-related amputations.

It is a general observation that the people who suffer from diabetes generally tend to
develop the foot ulcers as a result of their diabetic condition. The other matters that are
associated with the foot complications arising due to the medical condition of diabetes are the
ones that pertain to the marked morbidity, the loss of the functionality and the mortality. The
diabetic patients might also face a huge amount of risk of amputation due to the combination of
the conditions of foot ulcers and the diabetes mellitus which might lead to the deep infections,
ischaemia and the other conditions of peripheral neuropathy. According to Lefebvre & Lavery
(2011), the lower extremity amputations might also pose huge threats to the life and the health of
the concerned person who has been suffering from the concerned disease. The experts opine that
the foot complications can majorly be taken precautionary measures for the management of the
diabetes, the care of the feet and the footwear that should be used by the concerned patient. The
patients who have been suffering from the diabetic conditions are advised to indulge in the
various activities that are related to the footcare and other forms of self-care that pertain to the
management and the adaptation of the precautionary measures for the prevention of diabetic
conditions. The patient must also be advised on the ways in which the conditions of ulceration
might be avoided.
According to the recommendations of the IDF, the patients are advised to inspect the
shoes and the other feet. The patients are also advised to wash their feet as the main activities
that might be help them in the prevention in the foot care issues that might arise due to diabetic
conditions. The patients are advised to put forth the examination of the various areas in their feet
for the various punctures, redness and the ulcers and the shoes should be examined tightness,
softness and the various objects that might cause the skin to rupture. These examinations might
help the concerned patients to avoid the various conditions leading up to the amputations. The

patients should be educated in the matters pertaining to the proper ways of the foot care of the
concerned patient. Thus, it is observed that a number of the scientific organizations and societies
tend to provide the various diabetic patients with the guidelines on the matters that pertain to the
caring of the feet of the concerned patient.
The employment of the footcare techniques and the knowledge of the same might help in
the improvement of the conditions that are faced by the patients who had to go through the
amputations that were related to the T2DM. Dorresteijn et al. (2014), opine that the education of
the patients on the effects of diabetes might help in the improvement of the knowledge shared by
the patients on the matters that pertain to the footcare.
Haas et al. (2014) put forth the fact that the patients who have been at a lower risk of
having developed the foot ulcers should also be educated on the ill-effects of feet ulcers along
with those who have been suffering from the conditions of high levels of HbA1c or might have a
long history of diabetes. The patients are advised to report the matters that relate to the changes
and the other concerns that might arise in their feet.