Permissive and prohibitive rules for foot care

Due to the fact that diabetes mellitus has a high risk of developing gangrene of the foot and, as a result, amputation of a limb, each patient should be familiar with a set of preventive measures to reduce it. These measures can be summarized as simple foot care rules.

Prohibitory rules must be followed to prevent possible damage to the feet:

• First of all, you should not use any sharp objects (scissors, corn knives, razor blades, forceps) when caring for nails and skin of the feet. This is one of the most common causes of injury, especially since with reduced pain sensitivity, it can be overlooked. If your feet are cold, you should not use heating pads, electric heaters, or steam heaters to keep them warm. Temperature sensitivity can be reduced and the person will not feel a burn. 
• For the same reason, you cannot take hot foot baths (the water temperature should be no higher than 40 degrees).
• It is not recommended to walk barefoot, as there is a high risk of injury and simultaneous infection. Bathing slippers should be worn on the beach, and your feet should be protected from sunburn.
• You should give up uncomfortable (pressing, chafing) shoes and do not wear high-heeled shoes. Never wear shoes with bare feet. You need to be careful with new shoes: for the first time, put them on for no more than one hour and in no case wear out the smaller ones. Open shoes are also not recommended, which create additional opportunities for injury, especially sandals or sandals with a strap passing between the toes.
• If there are calluses on the legs, you should not try to get rid of them with a callus plaster or special ointments and liquids, because these products contain substances that damage the skin.
• When treating foot injuries, iodine, brilliant green, alcohol and potassium permanganate should not be used. They are contraindicated due to the fact that they impair wound healing, moreover, they themselves can cause burns, and also stain the wound, hiding the process that is taking place. Also, you can not use ordinary adhesive plaster to close the damage.
• You should not smoke as this further impairs the blood supply to your legs.

“Permissive” rules are the recommendations that a person must follow with proper foot care:

• It is necessary to wash your feet daily, after washing them you need to wipe them dry, not rubbing, but getting wet the skin, especially in the interdigital spaces. You should also change your socks or stockings daily.
• If your feet are cold, you need to warm them with warm socks of the appropriate size and without tight elastic bands. Care must be taken to ensure that the socks do not stray into the shoes.
• Wear special DIALINE silver socks designed for people with diabetes. 

• Shoes should be spacious, with a soft insole. It is necessary to take it as a rule to check the inner surface of the shoe before putting it on: whether any foreign objects have got inside that can injure the foot, whether the insole is wrapped up, whether the carnations are showing through.
• Every day it is necessary to carefully examine the feet, especially the plantar surface. Elderly and overweight people may be advised to use a floor-mounted mirror. As a last resort, ask your relatives to be examined. This procedure allows you to timely detect wounds, cracks, abrasions.
• If the skin of the legs is dry, lubricate it (but not in the interdigital spaces) with a fat cream or oil. DIALINE foot cream has been developed especially for people with diabetes , which provides daily reliable protection for the feet in case of diabetes mellitus. 
• It is recommended to show even minor injuries to a doctor, however, the patient must be able to provide first aid to himself. A wound or crack found during examination of the foot must be washed with a disinfectant solution, which should be in the patient’s medicine cabinet. To do this, you can use a solution of dioxidine (available in any pharmacy), furacilin or hydrogen peroxide. There is no point in treating wounds with insulin, it has no healing effect. The washed wound must be closed with a sterile bandage or for a while with a bactericidal adhesive plaster.
• The processing of nails should only be done with a file. The edge of the nail should be filed horizontally, leaving the corners intact. Cutting off the corners of the nail or rounding them too much with a file can lead to the formation of a so-called ingrown nail, which will require long-term special treatment.