now what? scary foot thing…
I walked today…about four miles, around one of the local lakes. When I came
home and took my shoes off my sock was all bloody. The tip of my toe looks like
maybe it got squished against another toe’s nail. Still bleeding a bit. But I
didn’t ever feel *anything* and that is kind of scaring me. My shoes aren’t
too new or too old…
Should I ease off the walking until I can talk to my doc about it?
–
We’re gonna win Twins, we’re
gonna score. We’re gonna win
Twins, watch that baseball soar!
Knock out a homerun, shout a hip
horray! Cheer for the
Minnesota Twins today!
–The Minnesota Twins: Back to
back Western Division Champs!
March 20th, 2004 at 9:37 pm
Good morning, Jenny! How are your toes doing? I had read your post about finding that your toenails had cut into one another and honestly, I have sat on my hands since.
I wanted to type a response right away but there are many ways that diabetics handle their feet and I didn’t want to cause any type of uproar by offering advice.
Well…. I can’t sit on my hands any longer. Your post has been on my mind since and I can tell you that the toe thing has happened to me in the past.
The reason you may not have felt the nails cutting into each other is you may be in the beginnings of nerve damage (Peripheral Neuropathy) that affects the extremities of diabetics. It starts in the furthest point of your body and works backwards. Toes lead to feet, fingers lead to hands. It can wreak havoc on all of your organs as well. I have it in both feet which are totally numb and also have now developed it in my fingertips which means they will be numb probably in about 5 years. My bladder is nerve damaged as well due not only to Diabetes but also to spinal disease that I am battling.
This is a slow, silent progressing disorder that once it starts, there is no reversing it. The best way to control it’s advancement is to keep your blood sugars in a tight range and it sounds to me that you have a handle on that. Congrats!!
Also, B-Complex is supposed to be good for your nervous system. I take that everyday but mine is so advanced, I don’t think it helps me much.
Your feet are the MOST IMPORTANT thing on your body that you have to protect the most. They can be the first to develop uncontrollable infection and cause amputations.
I’m not trying to scare you, only educate you on the complications that can arise. A simple bug bite can lead to a hole in your foot that may take forever to heal. This happened to my mother and at one point almost lost her foot.
I have my own set of rules concerning my feet. I never go barefoot, I wear two pairs of socks in the house all the time. One pair if it’s hot in here. I make sure there is nothing in the floor that I can step on that can cut me or bruise my feet.
Dr.’s will tell you to wear leather shoes only. I wear canvas tennis shoes all the time. They are comfortable, give more when it comes to stretching and absorb perspiration. I wash my shoes every week as well.
I trim my own toenails straight across and never, ever try to cut out an ingrown toenail. When I bathe, I dry my feet thoroughly as well as in between the toes and then apply lotion. You should never put lotion between your toes or leave them wet because this is where fungus can grow and lead to infection. To be honest, I am a fanatic about proper foot care for fear of losing a foot. I made the mistake years ago of letting a Dr. I worked for inject cortisone into the lower part of my big toe. It took a year for it to heal. I refuse to let a Dr. touch my feet. I have worked for a Podiatrist before and if they find one small callous on you, they will insist on trimming it, this leads to constant repeat visits and can lead to infection as well.
Also, the other day I learned something myself. I have 11 herniated discs in my back so I put on support panty hose in hopes of accomplishing some housework without pain. I kept them on all day. When I took them off, my toes had all made imprints on each other from being squished together and one of my nails had started to cut into the other. I, like you didn’t feel it all day. This scared the crap out of me!! I decided to cut the feet off my pantyhose from now on so it won’t happen again. Of course, I don’t work so I can run around the house all day like this with socks covering my feet.
Another thing, if you notice an open cut, sore or anything on your feet, the best thing to do is wash your feet really well with antibacterial soap, dry them and see a Dr. right away. It may be a case of needing an antibiotic to ward off a possible infection.
Years ago they advised soaking feet but that’s changed and they now want your feet to be kept as dry as possible. Keeping them moist runs into alot of unforeseen problems.
It sounds to me that you enjoy walking and that’s great! Just do it with care and don’t overdo it. I was just given a treadmill so that I can exercise here at home since I can’t walk in public without a cane. I need something to support me when I am walking due to my spine.
If you suspect that you are experiencing numbness, see a neurologist to get a diagnosis.
I had years of sharp, electrical shock feelings, pain and numbness and nobody could tell me what it was. It started for me in ‘94′ and I didn’t get a proper diagnosis for 4 years. Don’t let this happen to you!
I hope I have helped you out with wondering what to do with your feet.
This is also for everybody on the list. Some of you may have already done this: If you call 1-800-860-8747, The National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse, they will send you booklets that cover everything concerning your diabetic care.
Foot care, food intake, exercise, complications, etc….. They will send these books free of charge if you request them. I have had them sent to myself as well as friends of mine that are diabetics. They are easy to read and useful for information that Dr.’s fail to tell us.
Their web site is www.niddk.nih.gov and you click on Health Information for answers as well. Hope everyone is well! If anyone has a problem with the phone number, let me know. I just spoke with a man at that number and he said they still send the books out for free.
Have a great week!
Take care,
Carol