Why Diabetic Footwear Protects Your Feet and Your Health?

Not all shoes are created alike. Some are designed for helping you run for longer distances, which can improve your health, but others are designed to help you with a medical condition, like diabetes. Diabetes footwear is not only innovative, but also a necessary part of a diabetes care regimen. These are some of the most commonly asked questions about diabetic footwear choices.

How Does Diabetic Footwear Protect the Foot?

There are several ways that diabetic shoes and boots can help you protect your feet:

Improve circulation – Since diabetes can cause poor circulation, these shoes can aid in improving blood flow, which will reduce the chances of numbness and loss of feeling. Reduce stress at certain points – The tops of the toes, the ball of the foot and other areas are particularly vulnerable to stress as you walk. The shoes then help to prevent scrapes and blisters from forming at these areas.

Protect the foot from injury – Since your foot moves through obstacles in the world all throughout the day, these types of footwear can help protect the skin from everyday cuts and scratches which can turn more serious for those with diabetes. Allow the foot to breathe – Heat and moisture that build up in the foot can increase the chances of blistering, so by allowing the foot to breathe, the wearer can not only be more comfortable, but you can lessen your chances of problems.

Are There Stylish Kinds of Diabetic Shoes?

Many people are concerned that diabetic footwear is not very stylish, but this is far from the truth. You can find a number of styles, ranging from typical athletic shoes to boots. With the even growing population of diabetics, you will find that more styles and colors are available than there ever have been before. Men and women can find styles that will suit a number of situations, and no one will be the wiser.

What Can Happen If I Don't Protect My Feet? You may not realize just how important diabetic foot care is for your health. In a typical person, a small blister simply shows up on the foot, they feel pain and they treat it or they let it heal on its own. But in a diabetic patient, this isn't the way it works. Since you can't necessarily feel the pain, you might end up causing the blister to open up and become infected. Without regular foot inspections, that infection could then turn into gangrene and other serious conditions, some even resulting in a need for amputation. While this sounds scary and perhaps rare, this is not the case. Many people don't stop to take the time to check their feet for troubles. With the slower healing time of diabetics, you can't afford to not check for sores and blisters each time you take your shoes off. Wearing diabetic footwear is a good step as it will help you reduce the possibility of these kinds of issues, but the rest of your foot care is up to you.

Do You Know the Foot Care Rules for Diabetics? The foot care rules for diabetics might seem to be a long list of things to add to your day, but when you consider the alternatives - infections, gangrene, and infection – maybe adding a few extra steps to your day will actually add many more steps to your life. Here are some of the most common questions about foot care rules for diabetics. Will Activity Help My Circulation? Activity is one of the many recommendations in the foot care rules for diabetics, but many people don’t understand why. Each time you exercise, you make your body work harder. In order to keep oxygen flowing to your blood cells, your circulation needs to improve in this way – you're using more oxygen, after all, when you move more. And in doing so, your blood pumps harder, causing your circulation to be much more efficient. The benefits of more activity are long term and they can also help to prevent future circulation problems from becoming a hindrance to your life. What Warning Signs Should I Be Looking For? As you follow the basic foot care rules for diabetics, you will be looking at your feet often to note changes. But what should you be looking for? Swelling, blisters, cuts, sores, and redness are all signs that you might have troubles with your feet. You should be looking at every inch of your foot, in between the toes, on the bottoms of the feet, on the tops, etc. If you have troubles doing this basic check, use a mirror or enlist the help of a spouse or a friend. How Often Do I Need to Wash My Feet? In order to keep your feet clean as one of the basic foot care rules for diabetics, you need to wash your feet at least once a day. This will make sure that you are checking your feet regularly, while also removing any dirt and other debris that may have accumulated on your foot's surface. Just wash the surface with warm water and soap and dry completely. Is It Okay for Me to Go Barefoot? The foot care rules for diabetics also state that you can not go barefoot at any time. With all of the possible ways to injure your foot, you need to make sure your feet are covered with socks and shoes at all times. Don't worry; there are many stylish options in diabetic shoes and footwear. Should I Be Worried about the Temperature of My Feet? Since you can have nerve damage at your extremities, you might want to avoid hot and cold too when you are caring for your feet as one of the foot care rules for diabetics. This means, no walking on the hot pavement or sand without shoes or socks, as well as no walking around colder surfaces. Chances are good that while you might not be able to feel the temperature chances, you could also be burning yourself without realizing it or causing frostbite – both of which could result in infections. For additional information on diabetic shoes and footwear, for both women and men, please call us toll free at 1-877-706-4480 or visit or diabetic footwear section.

Are Diabetic Shoes the Right Fit for You? When you're out shopping for medical supplies, diabetic shoes should be on your list too. While you might not realize it, the way that you care for your feet when you have diabetes is going to have a great impact on your long term health. Whether you have stable blood sugar levels or not, you need to start looking down at your toes to make sure you're doing all that you can for your health and for your body. What Does Diabetes Do to Your Feet? You've already heard from your doctor about the problems of having diabetes. When your blood sugar levels aren't managed, this can cause troubles with your kidneys and with your blood vessels. Both are serious conditions that have probably helped to convince you to take the best care you can of yourself. At the same time, those are the bigger and often more commonly mentioned complications of diabetes. But you are also at risk for nerve damage as well as foot infections that can spread to the rest of your body. Since the nerves aren't able to sense pain and pressure as well as they once did, this can cause simple infections to turn into life-threatening conditions – unless you take the time to care for yourself from head to toes. Making Lifestyle Changes that Help The good news is that it's actually quite simple to care for your feet when you're a diabetic, though it will take disciple and vigilance. Each time you take off your shoes and your socks, you will want to check for any cuts, scrapes or bruises and alert your doctor to any changes you might see. They may have you take medications to prevent further problems or they might need to see you in their office. Also, you will want to make sure you are washing your feet with warm water to keep them clean at the end of the day. In addition, wearing diabetic shoes can help to prevent the injuries and the infections from happening in the first place. These shoes are specially designed for the foot that's more sensitive to pressure and to pain. Long Term Solutions for Diabetes Choosing diabetic shoes will help you ensure that your feet's chances of blisters are minimal. If you wear traditional shoes, you might get a blister that you don't notice (especially when you aren't doing regular checks for cuts and scrapes). And if this blister becomes infected, it can turn into a more complicated infection that leads to ulcers and eventually gangrene. Since diabetics have a hard time with infections, things can get out of hand more quickly than with everyone else. This is why it's so important to not only use and wear diabetic shoes, but also to regulate your diet and exercise plans. Getting regular checks by your doctor, taking your medications as indicated and monitoring your blood sugar are also long term solutions for preventing long term and unnecessary problems. For additional information on diabetic shoes and footwear, for both women and men, please call us toll free at 1-877-706-4480 or visit or diabetic footwear section.