Type 2 diabetes is a worldwide issue where your body’s insulin (the hormone that controls blood sugar) isn’t able to keep things in check, and leads to possible damage in nerves, blood vessels, and soft tissues throughout your body. Your heart, lungs, eyes, liver, kidneys, digestive tract, and skin are just some of the areas that can be damaged by untreated diabetes.
Your feet are another place where diabetes can wreak havoc. Even minor foot problems like corns or calluses are more complicated when you have diabetes. If you’re diabetic and live in the Tarzana or Inglewood, California, areas and have foot problems, Drs. Ashkan Soleymani, Michael Salih, Arash Jalil, Saman Tabari, and their staff at Cedars Foot & Ankle Center are here to help.
To find out more, let’s examine some basic facts about these everyday foot conditions, how being a diabetic can make them more difficult, and explore treatment options.
Both conditions are marked by thickened layers of skin that develop on your feet and toes in response to repetitive friction or pressure. With healthy feet, these conditions don’t generally require treatment unless they’re painful or are causing problems with footwear.
Corns and calluses do have distinctions between them, as corns are often smaller, deeper, and possess a hard center around swollen skin while calluses develop on pressure spots, rarely hurt, and vary in size.
Both problems are caused by ill-fitting shoes, wearing shoes without socks, and having preexisting conditions that increase your risk of either, such as bunions (hallux valgus) and hammertoe.
Diabetes affects your nerves and circulation, so corns, calluses, and other foot ailments are at risk of becoming ulcerated and infected. If the infection advances, it may require debridement (cutting away of infectious tissue) or, in severe cases, amputation.
Corns and calluses are usually treated with at-home care, like scraping them away with a pumice stone, applying medicated pads, using salicylic acid to exfoliate the skin, keeping the trouble areas moisturized, and switching to better fitting shoes.
But with diabetes, it depends on how severe your circulation, nerve, and skin problems are to determine whether at-home care is sufficient or if it’s best to have a member of our team help you.
Be sure to keep your feet clean and dry, check them daily for any significant changes, and always wear socks. We recommend low impact exercises like swimming, cycling, Tai Chi, and yoga. In some cases, your podiatrist here at Cedars Foot & Ankle Center may fit you for orthotics, which are custom shoe inserts that relieve the pressure around the callus or corn so it can heal.
Controlling your diabetes is the most effective way to keep complications from arising, so regulating your blood sugar, eating well, and getting more exercise are excellent strategies.
Foot problems like calluses and corns are a bit more delicate when you have diabetes, but not impossible to treat. If you’re struggling with these issues, make an appointment with Drs. Soleymani, Salih, Jalil, Tabari, and their team at Cedars Foot & Ankle Center today.
