November is Diabetes Awareness Month
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November is Diabetes Awareness Month

Stay a Step Ahead of Diabetic Foot Ulcers!

National Diabetes Awareness Month — November 2017 – National Diabetes Awareness Month is an excellent time for people with diabetes – and their loved ones – to learn about good foot care and make it a priority. It could save your life and your limbs.

  • Diabetes can cause serious problems with your feet. People with diabetes commonly experience nerve damage called “peripheral neuropathy” which numbs the extremities to the sensations of pain, heat and cold. Without full sensation, it’s easy to suffer from a cut, sore, or blister that goes unnoticed.
    These foot problems can result in a wound that is slow to heal and may become infected. Doctors call these kinds of sores diabetic foot ulcers, or simply DFUs.1,2

What is a DFU?

A Diabetic Foot Ulcer (DFU) is a hard to heal open sore or wound that occurs in approximately 15% of patients with diabetes and is commonly located on the bottom of the foot.

How Common are DFUs?

  • 29 million Americans
    currently live with diabetes.3
  • 10 percent of Americans with diabetes
    will experience a DFU.3
  • 15 percent of DFU patients
    will undergo an amputation.4
  • 73,000 DFU-related amputations
    are performed each year in the United States.5
  • 5-year mortality rate
    associated with diabetes related amputations.6
  • The best way to avoid a DFU-related complication – including amputation – is to stop DFUs from forming in the first place. If you have diabetes, it is important to practice good foot care.

How to Prevent DFUs

  • Keep your feet clean.
    Wash them with lukewarm water and soap.
  • Keep your feet dry.
  • Be an inspector. Check your feet daily.
  • Keep your toenails neat and trim.
  • Never go barefoot.

Know your Wound Care Treatment Options

  • Infection Prevention
  • Offloading
    Staying off your feet for as long as directed
  • Cleansing and Debridement
    Thoroughly cleaning the wound; removing dead or infected tissue
  • Wound Management Products
  • FDA-Approved Living Cell Therapies
    Used for wounds that do not heal after 3-4 weeks of standard therapy
  1. Diabetes. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. www.cdc.gov/media/presskits/aahd/diabetes.pdf. Accessed July 3, 2013.
  2. Parmet S, Glass TJ, Glass RM. JAMA patient page. Diabetic foot ulcers. JAMA. 2005;293(2):260.
  3. Singh N, Armstrong DG, Lipsky BA. “Preventing Foot Ulcers in Patients With Diabetes.” JAMA. 2005 Jan;293(2):217-28.
  4. Morbach S, Furchert H, Groblinghoff U, Hoffmeier H, Kersten K, Klauke GT, Klemp U, Roden T, Icks A, Haastert B, Rumenapf G, Abbas ZG, Bharara M, Armstrong DG. “Long-Term Prognosis of Diabetic Foot Patients and Their Limbs: Amputation and Death Over the Course of a Decade.” Diabetes Care. 2012;35(10):2021-7.
  5. Limb Loss Task Force/Amputee Coalition, Roadmap for Stimulating Limb Loss Research and Improving Care: Recommendations From the 2015 Limb Loss Task Force. Knoxville, Tennessee; 2016. (Available on amputee-coalition.org)
  6. Moulik PK, Mtonga R, Gill GV. Amputation and mortality in new-onset diabetic foot ulcers stratified by etiology. Diabetes Care. 2003;26:491-494.