Foot Care for Obese and Type 2 Diabetics

Time for Fungal cream

We hardly ever look at our feet and that’s exactly the problem. Especially if you’re obese and/or have Type 2 diabetes. In fact, for many overweight people, it’s been a long time since they saw their feet or at the very least we’re able to really take a good look at them. Coupled with the realities of not being able to bend either your leg or your body far enough to examine you feet with the social embarrassment of asking some one else to do the chore for you and we have the beginnings of a recipe for disaster. Feet make the whole world go around. We take them for granted, giving little or no thought to how important they really are. They’re like the tires on our cars. As long as they stay round, we get to go where ever we want. Flatten them and see how far the car goes!

For overweight people or diabetics, feet can be a real challenge. Both groups tend to have circulation problems resulting in swollen feet. Swollen feet don’t fit well in shoes and cause blisters or ulcers. In addition, pain sensing nerve endings in our feet can often get dulled through neuropathy (nerve damage) which prevents feeling those foot blisters and other messages from our feet.

Dry, Leathery Heels

What if you got a flat tire on you car and you didn’t feel the thump, thump from it as you drive down the road? It would only take a few blocks and you’d rip the rubber to shreds! The very same thing happens to people with peripheral nerve damage or foot problems that don’t get looked after.

Here are some tips for good foot care and health:

• Examine your feet thoroughly at least once a week. Daily if you’re actually experiencing any foot problems
• Get some one else to check them if you can’t fully see between your toes or the bottom of your feet. ( DO NOT let embarrassment get in the ay of asking for help. Your feet are TOO important.)
• Look for cuts, bruising, athletes foot, itchy red or patchy skin, sores that aren’t healing, and cracked, dry leathery skin.
• NEVER, EVER walk around the house or outside without foot wear. NO BARE feet!! – This is just asking for trouble!
• Swollen feet need to be checked by your doctor. If you have swollen feet you can:
• Soak them for 15 to 30 minutes a day in warm water with Epsom Salts
• Elevate, elevate, elevate – get those feet up. Elevated feet mean you’re laying down with your feet higher than the trunk of your body. Putting your feet up on a hassock or table sitting in front of the TV is NOT elevated.
• If you have cracked, dry heels, use a good moisturizing cream twice a day – in the morning when you put your socks on and at bedtime.
• If you get athletes foot, treat vigorously with a good anti-fungal cream (per directions). Make sure you check the rest of the family – athletes foots is very contagious. Often families share it back and forth for months because they didn’t know other family members had it too.
• If you have open or oozing sores, ulcers, inflamed bumps or lumps or any sore that doesn’t heal within a week – RUN, crawl, wheel (or get towed) to your doctor or clinic as fast as you can.