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Throughout the month of Ramadan, Yabiladi offers you daily health advice. For this twenty-first capsule of our “Hello Doc” series, we discuss one of the complications due to diabetes, commonly known as the diabetic foot.
Diabetes can, whatever its type, lead to a loss of sensitivity in the feet, or even a reduction in the natural hydration of the foot. It can also lead to bone deformities, dryness and cracks. Any potential wound then becomes painless, with a high risk of infection, thus causing gangrene or even amputation.
“Many people suffer from diabetic foot. This is one of the most frequent complications in this category of people”, explains doctor Zakaria Azouazi, endocrinologist, specialist in hormones and diabetes.
Pay special attention to your feet when you have diabetes
“Among the causes that lead to the amputation of the foot, we can mention the imbalance of the level of glucose in the blood. The higher the stock of glucose, the more the person is subject to foot amputation,” he warns. “This stock must not exceed a rate of 7%, so that the person protects himself once morest this risk and protects his feet from this complication”, he continues. Doctor Zakaria Azouazi also gives several tips to people with diabetes, starting with the shoes worn.
“Special attention should be paid to footwear. They should not be too tight, especially for people who already suffer from foot deformity due to diabetes. The person must therefore wear special therapeutic shoes. As for the heels, they should generally not exceed 1.5 centimeters.
Zakaria Azouazi
On the other hand, the doctor also suggests paying particular attention to foot hygiene. “When we cut our toenails, we must be careful not to cut them very short and avoid injuring ourselves while doing so, because these wounds become a doorway for germs”, he tells us.
The endocrinologist also advises people doing their ablutions to “dry their feet well, especially between the toes, because the water that remains causes humidity. The skin at this level becomes sensitive and risks cracking”.
In addition, “if a person with diabetes hurts his foot, he is forbidden to treat himself at home on his own.” “She must imperatively go to her specialist doctor to do so in order to avoid this kind of complication which can lead to the amputation of the foot”, he concludes.
