Foot ulcers are a common diabetic consequence that cannot be controlled with dietary changes, physical activity, or insulin medication. Ulcers form when the skin tissue breaks away, revealing the layers below. They most frequently occur on the balls of your feet, and beneath big toes. They have an impact on your feet to the bones.

Foot ulcers can occur in all people with diabetes, but proactive foot care can help prevent them. Depending on their root cause, diabetic foot ulcers require a variety of treatments. If you spot foot ulcers, then contact foot and ankle specialist Orange County, to get proper treatment and remedies.

Foot Ulcers 

A foot ulcer is a small, red crater that only affects the skin’s outer layer, but it can also be deep. Deep ulcer penetrates through the thickness of the skin into the bones, tendons, and other deep structures. A foot ulcer can be difficult to recover from. Even a small foot ulcer will spread infection in people with diabetes if it doesn’t heal fast.

If an infection develops in an ulcer and isn’t treated right away, it will progress into:

• Abscess – A pouch full of pus.
• Cellulitis – A skin and underlying fat infection.
• Osteomyelitis – A bone infection.
• Gangrene – A region of dead, discolored body tissue brought on by inadequate blood supply.

Most severe foot infections in people with diabetes start as foot ulcers and end up necessitating amputating a portion of the toe, foot, or lower leg.

Dr. Sima Soltani is a diabetic wound care Orange County, Irvine specialist. she has been treating all kinds of foot, ankle, and knee problems for 20+ years. she believes that diabetic people should regularly go for a checkup if they find any abnormality in their feet. With immediate care and treatment, foot ulcers can be taken care of otherwise the last resort is surgery or amputation.

Causes of Foot Ulcer 

• Poor blood circulation prevents blood from flowing effectively to the feet. Poor circulation might make it more difficult for ulcers to heal.
• High blood sugar levels will impede the healing process of an infected foot ulcer. People with type 2 diabetes and other illnesses typically have a harder time preventing ulcer-related infections.

• Nerve damage could result in a long-term loss of sensation in your feet. A damaged nerve will hurt, tingle, and decrease the sensitivity to foot pain and resulting in ulcers and sores.

Risk Factors 

• Bad shoe quality
• Keeping feet dirty and sweaty and not maintaining hygiene.
• Excessive consumption of alcohol and tobacco.
• Kidney, heart, and eye disease.
• Obesity
• Improper toenail trimming.

Treatment Method for Foot Ulcer

Antibiotics 

When a sensible person spots a foot ulcer the first thing, he/she does is contact an Orange County wound care specialist. If the foot ulcer is in an early stage, the podiatrist will try to treat it with ointment and antibiotics. Surgery is suggested only during the last stage of the ulcer.

Dressing and Wrapping 

Some ulcers require cleaning and dressing. It is wise to get it done by a trained specialist because they clean and apply ointments and certain medicine which is available, particularly in clinics. Once the medication is applied, then they go ahead and wrap the ulcer part of the foot properly with a bandage to protect it from any germs and bacteria.

Regular Visits to Podiatrist

In addition to treating any existing ulcers, it’s critical to prevent the emergence of new foot and leg ulcers. By regularly changing the bandages during appointments, the podiatrist can move on to the next stage of treating the diabetic foot ulcer. Appointments should be scheduled more frequently when the ulcer is at its worst and more frequently once it has begun to heal fully.

Surgery

The most preferred method of treating foot and leg ulcers is natural healing. However, in most cases, surgery is required due to the patient’s condition. Every patient’s situation is unique, and their ulcer surgery needs may range from routine surgery to the excision of infected tissue or amputation in extreme situations.

Prevention

Foot ulcer prevention measures can be taken by those who are diabetic. They can achieve this by regularly inspecting their feet and practicing basic foot hygiene.

Foot ulcers or any kind of wound may take a longer healing time if a person is suffering from diabetes. Therefore, it is important to go for regular whole-body checkup and keep sugar levels under control.