There is no cure for diabetes yet, but there is a lot you can do to have a wonderful quality of life as you manage your condition.

7 basic rules for staying healthy

1.  Follow the basic rules of healthy foot care and educate yourself                     regarding your condition.
2.  Follow your physicians advice for managing other aspects of your                   diabetes.
3.  Monitor your blood sugar regularly.
4.  Eat healthy, your dietitian will have some good advice.
5.  Take your prescribed medications.  
6.  Enjoy some physical activity every day, be it walking, stretching or               biking, etc.
7.  If you smoke...stop now.  

Quiting smoking is one of the best things you can do for yourself and your family.  You may have learned what smoking can do to your lungs.  But have you learned that smoking can cause problems with your blood vessels?  Combine this damage with the negative effects of diabetes on your circulatory system and you are in a dangerous situation.  Smokers are more likely to experience amputations from diabetes related complications.  

Please see my link to Quit Smoking Community for more information on how to help yourself stay healthy.

Thank-you to Orthofeet for some of this information.

You have a callous?  A callous is  hard skin found on the bottom of your foot.  Don't worry, you can do something about that.  

A callous on your foot is caused by friction.  The cause of the friction could be one of two things.  It could be friction between one of your bones and the soft tissue of your foot or friction between your footwear and your foot.    

How do you get rid of the callous?  You get rid of the cause of the friction.  If your bone and skin are rubbing, perhaps your foot has a biomechanical fault.  This can be corrected with orthotics.  If there is more than one callous on your foot, though, it is less likely the orthotic will completely get rid of your problem.  Too expensive you say?  Let me tell you, if you have a biomechanical fault in your foot, eventually, if you live long enough, it will become a bigger problem.  It will multiply into problems in other parts of your body, perhaps in  your knees, hips and back.  The expense of orthotics could be the price required to save you a lot of pain, in more than just your feet.  

If your footwear is rubbing on your skin and causing the callous you will need to change your footwear to something that does not rub.  Yes, you may need to give away your offending footwear and buy something else.  Lots of people do not like this.  They don't like to think about spending money on a new pair of shoes when the old ones are not worn out.  Don't be a scrooge!  Your feet have done a lot of work for you and they deserve to be treated right.  Face the facts, your footwear does not fit you correctly.  You bought the wrong shoes.    Be smart, change your shoes!  

If you have diabetes, and you have a callous, you have an ulcer in waiting.  You cannot afford to ignore your callous.  The danger, of course, is that you could start losing your foot, or part therof,  to amputation(s).   See your foot care nurse.  After soaking your foot rub the callous with a towel, not a pumice stone.  This is because the pumice stone holds bacteria, putting you at risk of infection.   After rubbing it down, apply a moisturizer.  Your foot care nurse can suggest some.  Do this as per the directions according to the product you use.  Any product with more than 20% urea is for your heels only.   A moisturizer with 25% urea can break down your good skin. A product with 20% urea, or less , is safe for your whole foot. 

Some common foot conditions found in diabetes are neuropathy, structural deformities, nail changes, foot ulcers and skin changes i.e. dry skin and callouses.   Your foot care nurse can help.  Regular visits to a foot care health professional and health care teaching can help reduce the incidence of amputations related to diabetes.   

15% of Canadians with diabetes will develop a foot ulcer in their lifetime.  If you have diabetes examine your feet daily or have a family member look at them for you.  It is better to catch and deal with an injury to the skin, or underlying tissues, on your feet sooner than later.  Remember to find out from your health care professional how often you should have your feet examined ty them.

It is good practice to test your bath or shower water with your hand first, not your foot.  This is to make sure it is not too hot.  You can buy laser/digital thermometers from some stores for more exact, and safer tests.

Studies show diabetic footcare programs decrease ulcers and amputations by 44-85%

People with diabetes can reduce the risk of amputation by regular visits to their health care professional for regular foot assessments, foot care and for health teaching.  SAVE THOSE LEGS and FEET!  Save our health care dollars.

In Ontario, 50% of lower limb amputations are related to diabetes.  Do your best not to be part of this statistic.  Learn what the dangers are and what you can do to help prevent this kind of loss.  

I am interested in helping you reduce your risk of foot ulcers and amputations.  If you are a diabetic, a callous on your foot is an ulcer in waiting.  See your foot care nurse about your callouses.