Routine Preventive Diabetic Foot Care

What You Need To Know

Understanding your personal risk level is the first step to protecting your feet.

Comprehensive Diabetic Foot Care

If you are newly diagnosed with diabetes and need to determine your risk for getting into trouble with your feet, if you suffer from numbness and need your feet checked and cared for on a regular basis, or if you are dealing with an ulcer that has been hard to heal, please contact our specialists at Advanced Foot and Ankle Center. We are proud to offer comprehensive and specialized diabetic foot care.

We specialize in offering comprehensive foot assessments to determine your individualized risk level. It is important to recognize that not all patients with diabetes are at the same risk for getting into trouble with their feet. Some patients we will want to see every three to four months for what is frequently called preventive diabetic foot care, while others can go a year before having another foot evaluation. It is important to know where you stand.

Common warning signs that should prompt a visit include numbness or tingling, changes in skin color or temperature, thickened calluses, cracks or blisters, and any wound that is slow to heal. Because diabetes can reduce sensation in the feet, small problems often go unnoticed until they become serious, which is why regular professional evaluations matter so much.

For patients at heightened risk, having a foot callus trimmed down on a regular basis, typically every two to three months, is an essential component to staying out of trouble and ulcer free. If you have diabetes, contact our office to schedule an assessment and learn how often your feet should be evaluated.

Specialty Footwear and On-Site Support

It is also important that higher risk patients get into protective and specialty footwear. What is really nice about Advanced Foot and Ankle Center is that we are able to get our patients into the shoes they need and fit patients for foot orthoses and custom braces right in the comfort of the office, usually in just two quick office visits.

There are no third and fourth trips needed to other specialists such as pedorthists or orthotists for this type of service. Having everything under one roof reduces the burden on patients who may already be managing multiple appointments related to their diabetes care, and it allows our team to coordinate footwear, bracing, and routine foot care as one plan.

Our on-site retail options are stocked with products that are sensitive to the special needs of our diabetic patients, including diabetic socks, moisturizers appropriate for diabetic skin, and properly fitted shoes. In many ways, you could say that we are your one-stop diabetic foot shop.

Between office visits, patients play an important role by checking their feet daily, keeping skin clean and moisturized, avoiding walking barefoot, and never trying to trim calluses or corns at home. If you notice a new wound, redness, swelling, or drainage, contact our office right away so we can address it before it becomes a larger problem.