Why can diabetes cause foot ulcers?

 

A: Diabetes causes three conditions that affect the feet: poor circulation, reduced sensation, and a diminished healing capacity. Together, these three conditions can spell disaster if unrecognized and untreated. Poor circulation, known as peripheral artery disease (PAD) prevents sufficient blood flow to the feet, depriving the tissues of needed oxygen. Peripheral neuropathy, a numbing of the nerves in the feet, reduce the protective sensation and reduces the likelihood that someone with diabetes will feel pain with an injury. The reduces healing potential can make a trivial injury more problematic by becoming infected and putting the limb at risk.

When there is pressure beneath the foot or over bony prominences, such as bunions or hammertoes, thick skin, or calluses, will often form to protect from the increased pressure. In people without diabetes, this would become painful. When diabetics have numb feet, they will not feel pain and will keep walking. Because of reduced circulation and the diminished ability to heal, the tissue beneath the pressure will breaks down and a diabetic foot ulcer will form. The open foot ulcer, a break or hole in the skin, can deepen and become infected, putting the bone at risk for infection and threatening the health and safety of the limb.

If you notice that you have, or at risk for, a diabetic foot ulcer, consider it an emergency and call your podiatrist. As a podiatrist in Houston, TX we specialize in keeping our diabetic patients walking and healthy. Contact us today for schedule a comprehensive diabetic foot examination.




Tanglewood Foot Specialists

1011 Augusta Dr. Suite 202

Houston, TX 77057

713-785-7881

Houston foot & ankle specialist Dr. Andrew Schneider offers sports podiatry, diabetic foot care, and treatment and surgery of all foot and ankle problems to residents of Houston Texas and surrounding areas.  Contact us today for an immediate appointment.