People who suffer from diabetes can have problems with circulation, nerves, immunity, and deformity. Occasionally one or more of these may exist as an isolated issue but often people suffer from more than one at the same time.
- Circulation: People with circulation problems don’t have as much oxygenated blood supplying their feet as other individuals and therefore have difficulty healing any wounds.
- Nerves: Those who have nerve problems can develop a blister and oftentimes not even know it is there until they take off their shoes.
- Immunity: Some individuals with diabetes have a diminished response of their immune system. Because of this, they can get an infection from a cut or blister more easily and have more difficulty treating it.
- Deformity: People who suffer from diabetes can have collapse of the arch of their foot or other deformities which makes the foot more difficult to place into off-the-shelf shoes because of the risk of blisters developing over areas of high pressure.
Proper footwear is therefore very important for people with diabetes. Your foot and ankle orthopaedic specialist can help you choose proper footwear and recommend shoe modifications to protect your feet.