Blister's on foot?!
Question: sister-in-law has type 2 diabetes and has foot problems. She has gotten bliser's on one foot and now they have dried up.
My question is will she wind up having to have her foot removed or what is the chances for successful treatment? Plus what can family members do to help?
Answers: sister-in-law has type 2 diabetes and has foot problems. She has gotten bliser's on one foot and now they have dried up.
My question is will she wind up having to have her foot removed or what is the chances for successful treatment? Plus what can family members do to help?
Actually, these kind of problems are very common to diabetics, especially when they are experiencing persistent high blood sugar levels, i.e. an unwell-controlled diabetes. Because high blood sugar levels doesn't allow skin problems to be healed properly.
This does not mean that this problem will cause here foot removed. First of all, she need to keep her blood sugar levels approximately at a normal range. This can help her foot problems to be resolved.
Next, she has to take properly care of her feet. She needs to wash them and keep them dry and clean. Maybe she can use some local medications like creams.
But, at the same time, she needs to confirm if these blisters are due to infection or not. In case of infection, she needs to 'fight' it with special medications. The most probable infections are bacterial an yeast ones.
Blisters that have dried up and healed are a good sign. When the blisters don't heal, you should get them examined ASAP. If uncontrolled or poorly controlled diabetes can lead to microvascular diseases which decreases the blood flow to the extremities which can lead to cell and tissue death which can lead to loss of extremities, (doesn't sound like your sister-in-law has that.) Support her treatment and regular doctors visits and tight regimen of glucose testing and insulin/non-insulin therapy if needed.
It is very important for patients with diabetes to regularly examine the foot- like every day. Diabetes leads to complications that can cause your sister-in-law to not feel when there is something wrong with the foot. A good way to examine the foot is (if she can't easily see the foot, a mirror on the ground is very useful) check between each toe around the heel of the foot and everywhere! Any kind of cut, scrape, blister, etc. should be noted. The reason that people with diabetes have amputations is because of an opening in the skin, bacteria (that are all over the foot and shoes) getting access and causing an infection that goes as deep as the bone. Checking the foot daily is the best way to keep this from happening. If there is a sign of infection, it is important to see the doctor and have it resolved.
Consider this event a wake up call. She obviously should be taking better care of her feet.
You didn't mention the cause for the blisters, Good, roomy, comfortable shoes should be a very strong consideration.
Good, daily care of her feet is a must and will greatly improve the likely hood that she could recover fine. I use a scrubby of nylon mesh to clean by feet every day. I exam them each day while washing I use pumice to reduce build up skin. Calluses can also be not good.
Check you the following site to educate yourself:
http://www.footphysicians.com/footanklei...
Best Wishes