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Stay off your feet to prevent pain and ulcers. This is called off-loading, and it’s helpful for all forms of diabetic foot ulcers. Pressure from walking can make an infection worse and an ulcer expand.

Your doctor may recommend wearing certain items to protect your feet:

• diabetic shoes
• casts
• food braces
• compression wraps
• shoe inserts to prevent corns and calluses

Doctors can remove diabetic foot ulcers with a debridement, the removal of dead skin, foreign objects, or infections that may have caused the ulcer.

An infection is a serious complication of a foot ulcer and requires immediate treatment. Not all infections are treated the same way. 

Foot ulcers are a common complication of poorly controlled diabetes, forming as a result of skin tissue breaking down and exposing the layers underneath. They’re most common under your big toes and the balls of your feet, and they can affect your feet down to the bones.

Risk Factors for Diabetic Foot Ulcers

All people with diabetes are at risk for foot ulcers, which can have multiple causes. Some factors can increase the risk of foot ulcers, including:

• poorly fitted or poor quality shoes
• poor hygiene (not washing regularly or thoroughly)
• improper trimming of toenails
• alcohol consumption
• eye disease from diabetes
• heart disease
• kidney disease
• obesity
• tobacco use

Diabetic foot ulcers are also most common in older men.

Your skin is your body’s largest organ. It has many different functions, including covering and protecting your body. It helps keep germs out. But sometimes the germs can cause a skin infection. This often happens when there is a break, cut, or wound on your skin. It can also happen when your immune system is weakened, because of another disease or a medical treatment.

Some skin infections cover a small area on the top of your skin. Other infections can go deep into your skin or spread to a larger area.

What causes skin infections?

Skin infections are caused by different kinds of germs. For example,

• Bacteria cause cellulitis, impetigo, and staphylococcal (staph) infections
• Viruses cause shingles, warts, and herpes simplex
• Fungi cause athlete’s foot and yeast infections
• Parasites cause body lice, head lice, and scabies

Diagnosis of a Decubitus Ulcer

Medical personnel may take samples of the pressure ulcer tissue and fluid to look for bacteria or cancer. They may also do blood cultures, bone scans or other tests depending on the seriousness of the ulcer. In addition, they will evaluate the condition of the ulcer according to:

• The size of the decubitus ulcer and depth of the crater
• What kind of tissue is affected by the ulcer: skin, bone, or muscle
• The color of the ulcer and skin around it
• The tissue death caused by the ulcer
• The presence of infection, bleeding or foul odor

Treatment of Decubitus Ulcers

Depending on the stage of the ulcer, treatment can include some or all of the following:

• Cleaning the ulcer and putting a dressing on the wound
• Meticulous wound care with frequent dressing changes
• Reducing pressure on the area by repositioning and using supporting surfaces
• Antibacterial drugs to treat infection
• Pain medications to relieve discomfort
• Debridement surgery to remove dead tissue from the ulcer
• Diet changes and increased fluid intake for faster recovery

The National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel has developed a series of four stages of a decubitus ulcer to aid in diagnosis and treatment.

Stage I: 

The skin is discolored but not broken. Light-complexioned people may have red marks. Dark complexioned people may have a discoloration that is blue or purple. In some people, the discoloration is white.

Stage II: 

Skin breaks open and the ulcer is shallow with a reddish or pinkish wound bed. There may be tissue death around the wound, or a fluid-filled blister.

Stage III: 

Ulcer on the skin is deeper, affecting the fat layer and looking like a crater. Pus may be in the wound.

Stage IV: 

Ulcer moves to deeper layers of muscle or bone. A dark material called “eschar” may be inside the ulcer.

Unstageable: 

An ulcer that is yellow or green. It might have a brown scab covering it, or be soft and look pus filled. A dry and stable ulcer surface is the body’s natural protection and should be allowed to continue healing.

Venous insufficiency, Lubbock TX is most often caused by either blood clots or varicose veins.

In healthy veins, there is a continuous flow of blood from the limbs back toward the heart. Valves within the veins of the legs help prevent the backflow of blood.

In varicose veins, the valves are often missing or impaired, and blood leaks back through the damaged valves.

In some cases, weakness in the leg muscles that squeeze blood forward can also contribute to venous insufficiency, Lubbock TX.

Venous insufficiency, Lubbock TX is more common in women than in men. It’s also more likely to occur in adults over the age of 50, according to the Southwest Woundcare.

Other risk factors include:

• blood clots
• varicose veins
• obesity
• pregnancy
• smoking
• cancer
• muscle weakness, leg injury, or trauma
• swelling of a superficial vein (phlebitis)
• family history of venous insufficiency, Lubbock TX
• sitting or standing for long periods of time without moving

Before suggesting treatment, your doctor needs to identify the underlying cause. Ulcers, Lubbock TX can be treated with proper care and antibiotics, but diagnosing the underlying cause can ensure Ulcers, Lubbock TX heal and don’t recur.

Some conditions that contribute to Ulcers, Lubbock TX include:

• diabetes
• deep vein thrombosis
• rheumatoid arthritis
• arterial disease
• lupus
• chronic kidney disease
• high blood pressure
• high cholesterol

As with any ulcer, primary treatment focuses on increasing blood circulation to the affected area. Additional treatment goals include:

• reducing pain
• healing the wound effectively
• speeding the recovery process