The Importance of Having a Board-Certified Podiatrist on Your Diabetic Care Team

Our feet take us wherever we need to go, and the average person walks between 8,000 and 10,000 steps every day. We don’t often think about our feet until we have a problem, but there are steps everyone should take to protect their foot health, including wearing appropriate footwear, cutting toenails properly, and safeguarding your feet in public spaces. However, if you’re one of the 30 million Americans who suffer with diabetes, you need to be especially vigilant about how you take care of your feet, as the chronic illness increases your risk for foot complications.

That’s why it’s imperative you have a board-certified podiatrist like Francine Rhinehart, DPM on your team to help manage problems that can arise when you have diabetes.

Diabetic Foot Problems

There are a number of diabetes-related foot problems you should be aware of. They include:

Neuropathy

Diabetes can wreak havoc on your nerves and cause them to tingle, burn, or go numb. This decreases your ability to sense pain, making it likely that sores or cuts go unnoticed, which can lead to infection. Neuropathy is a key factor in the development of diabetic foot ulcers.

Peripheral vascular disease

Diabetes impacts your blood flow, making it harder for sores to heal. In the worst cases, when you have a lingering sore or ulcer, you may develop a severe infection that leads to gangrene and eventually requires an amputation. Alarmingly, diabetes is the reason for more than 50% of foot amputations in the United States.

Fungal infections

Poor circulation can lead to an infection like athlete’s foot between your toes. Any infection is dangerous for a diabetic. Your fungal infection care plan will likely include antibiotics to clear the condition swiftly.

Ingrown toenails

Even though ingrown toenails don’t seem serious, because they can become infected they’re not to be taken lightly. Dr. Rhinehart offers a quick in-office procedure to help relieve the pain of ingrown toenails and alleviate the threat of infection.

Deformities

Because of peripheral nerve damage, diabetics are more susceptible to deformities like hammertoes, callus formation, Charcot’s foot, and bunions. Dr. Rhinehart helps with corn and callus removal and offers footwear and orthotic recommendations to keep you mobile with the deformity or to prevent it from worsening.

While there are things you can do on a daily basis to help prevent diabetes-related foot complications, to take the very best care of your feet we recommend you make regular appointments with Dr. Rhinehart at our state-of-the-art clinic in Dallas, Texas. Call us at 214-216-6538 or book conveniently online.