Skin microdamages in diabetes: what to do to avoid problems?

Daily punctures for blood sampling, small cuts and cracks are invisible to us gates for infections. Against the background of reduced protective properties of the skin in diabetes, special care is needed. What to do to avoid problems and what cosmetics to use – we tell you about everything you need to know!

Materials from the author’s workshop Diabeton

Diabetes greatly increases the risk of bacterial infections. This is due to a number of factors: unstable blood sugar, nerve damage and malfunctions in the mechanism of sweating, damage to small blood vessels. Read more in the article “Dryness, peeling and itching of the skin with diabetes”.

In general, elevated sugar levels in body tissues are an ideal environment for the development of a bacterial infection. Therefore, our task is to “protect” even minor blood damage in order to keep pathogenic microorganisms out.

How do wounds heal?

When your skin is damaged, your body begins a three-stage repair process in the damaged area. 3 mechanisms occur in parallel.

1. Phase of inflammation

First, the immune response causes the wound to become inflamed to prevent infections.

2. Proliferation phase, or recovery phase

At the site of damage, new cells are actively formed and, finally, scar tissues are formed, which, as it were, close the cut.

3. Phase of tissue maturation and remodeling

In the second phase, the wound may look “closed”, but this is not yet a complete recovery. Therefore, the second phase is sometimes referred to as pseudo-healing . So the third phase is the stage of real healing, when collagen is rearranged and the connective tissue becomes stronger.

Some wounds heal easily, while others may take longer, especially if the injury is deep or the person is in poor health (such as unstable sugars).

Are microdamages dangerous?

If the danger of deep damage is obvious, small cuts and punctures do not seem to be such alarming events. And, yes, of course, the severity of such wounds is not comparable. Nevertheless, microdamages should not be taken lightly.

Microdamages are dangerous due to their invisibility. In diabetes, the skin is more prone to the formation of microcracks, through which irritants and pathogens enter the body. Therefore, it needs effective moisturizing, which can prevent the appearance of a network of small lesions. But the wounds that form in our routine for compensation require a special approach.

What to do in microdamages?

In diabetes, we routinely damage our skin when we inject insulin, draw blood for analysis, install a monitoring sensor. This is inevitable, as it is part of the daily ritual of compensation.

The best thing you can do to help your skin is to take good care of it.

• The puncture site must be disinfected before manipulation. For injections and insertion of a cannula or sensor, wipe the skin with a mild antiseptic or alcohol wipe, but the former is preferred.
• Hands should be washed with soap before taking blood for analysis. Use alcohol-based products if you do not have soap and water nearby. All the same, for the skin, the use of alcohol is more traumatic.
• After taking blood for analysis or when you have removed the sensor / cannula, apply a caring cream with film-forming components to the microdamage site. Such a tool “seals” the wound and does not let the infection pass there.

For people with diabetes, a special remedy has been developed – DiaDerm Regenerating cream. It accelerates the recovery of the skin in places of its microdamages.

The special basis of the cream is the film-forming components – larch resin and honeycomb. It is these ingredients that create a barrier that prevents the penetration of infection.

The composition also includes sage oil and bergenia extract, which have a pronounced anti-inflammatory and astringent effect, in addition, they help to quickly stop capillary bleeding.

Remember that in matters of health there are no trifles that are not worth your attention! Small rules of daily care will help maintain healthy and beautiful skin for many, many years.