Tips for Living Life with Diabetes

We would like to share some tips to living life with diabetes which include taking extra precautions with your diet, and caring for your feet.  A major risk to having diabetes is that you are at increased risk of developing foot wounds.  And if a wound is developed and it won’t heal, amputation may become necessary.

While that’s a scary thought, there are two important ways we can lower that risk: by maintaining your blood sugar and by focusing on proper foot care. Let’s look at both of those important factors:

How to Maintain Diabetic Blood Sugar Levels

These tips will help you to keep your blood sugar at an acceptable level:

• Exercise regularly
• Reduce stress
• Following a well-balanced diet plan that a nutritionist has helped create (check out some of these delicious recipes!)
• Taking your medications as prescribed
• Follow a consistent meal and snack schedule
• Limit sugary foods and drinks (tips on cutting down on sugar found here)

Keys to Home Care for Diabetic Feet

Aside from seeing your podiatrist regularly, if you suffer from diabetes you should:

• Perform daily foot exams, looking for cuts, bruises, blisters, and scrapes
• Wiggle your toes often to get blood flowing to extremities
• Never go barefoot
• Wear clean, dry socks
• Wash and dry your feet carefully
• Wear shoes that have been properly fitted to your feet

If that seems like a lot of steps to follow, we understand. Making lifestyle changes to manage your diabetes can feel overwhelming. But that’s where your treatment team can help.  At Kansas City Foot and Ankle, we thrive on helping patients with diabetes see that small changes can have a big impact.  We hope that these tips for living with diabetes will help you!

Book An Appointment
Kansas City Foot and Ankle and The Heel Pain Center of Kansas City
South: 1010 Carondelet Dr, Suite 301, KC, MO 64114
East: 3600 NE Ralph Powell Rd, Suite D, Lee’s Summit, MO 64064
North: 9501 N Oak Trafficway, Kansas City, MO 64155
816-943-1111

Our doctors are of the most trusted foot and ankle specialists in the Kansas City Area.  We invite you to read about the doctors and our areas of specialization.

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