How to Effectively Nurse Diabetic Foot?

Diabetes patients suffer diabetic foot due to their poor knowledge of diabetic foot's nursing. For some serious ones, they may risk of amputation or losing their life. So patients should learn how to effectively nurse their diabetic foot. Here are some suggestions as follows:

1.Wash foot every day: patients should wash foot one to two time each day. The foot-washing water should be warm with 38 to 40 centigrade. They can touch it with opisthenar or elbow to feel the water temperature. Too hot water can easily scald skin and cold water is not good for promoting blood circulation. Besides, the time for washing foot should not be too long and 10 minute is proper. It is better to use soft and bibulous towel with white color to dry foot, because rough towel or a big force can cause invisible wound and a white towel can help to find out blood or pus timely.

2. Check up foot every day: patients should check up their foot every day, observe the abnormality of foot such as skin color, red, swollen, wound and skin abnormal sensation. If they find any abnormality, they should go to hospital to treat it in order to avoid aggravating the condition.

3. trim nails: do not trim nails excessively to prevent the damage to nail groove, which can cause paronychia. Any kind of foot disease such as helosis, callus and tinea should be treated timely. Besides, patients should not treat it by themselves which may lead to infection or even fester, gangrene. Further more, they should not take strenuous exercise to prevent from excessive weight to feet and wound.

4. keep foot skin lubricating: autonomic neuropathy causes reduced sweat , which causes dry skin in particular heel and makes skin easily cracked or even ulcer, infection. So they can daub some lubricant and fully massage skin. If patients have sweaty foot, excessive sweat may lead to fungus infection. In the condition, they can use medicinal alcohol to wipe toes seam. Besides, when they wash foot they can add some vinegar in water, which can inhibit fungal growth.

5.pay attention to keeping warm: patients should pay more attention to keeping foot warm. The shoes should be loose and comfortable without hurting foot,otherwise it can affect blood circulation. Pure cotton socks are better for air's permeation. Besides the plants should be loose and comfortable to ensure blood circulation of legs and feet.


6. prevention treatment: for patients with any condition of peripheral neuropathy, legs or foot atherosclerosis, they should go to hospital to take some prevention treatment. So long as patients pay more attention to those suggestions, they can effectively protect their foot and live a better life.