Footcare .. what can and can't I do ...

Lemonie said:

I've been reading up on foot care for diabetics and just wondered what is your regime for looking after your feet. I have started to moisturise my feet nightly and use a file to get rid of any hard skin on my heels. I also have psoriatic arthritis in my feet which has caused problems with my toe nails becoming thick. I have a bath every night before bed but have read not to soak my feet so is this ok?

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I also enjoy a daily bath but I'd like to know how I would keep my feet from the soaking :lol:
I use P100 green grit sand paper for the occasional hard skin (yes, I'm careful folks) and treat with Cuticura 'Dry Skin' moisture cream (£1.39 300ml) from my local Pennywise shop in town. I have tried other creams and lotions but that seems to work best for me. I suffer with splitting nails (hand & feet) that tend to delaminate, so my wife found me some Sally Hansen 'Hard As Nails' with Nylon to paint them with which works well and looks and smells like a clear nail varnish. She suffers with hard thick nails so buys a nail softener from Boots and that seems to server her ok.
By looking after your feet you should be lucky and avoid splits in your heels such as I once suffered with before I gave them their due attention.

Lemonie
the best thing for your feet is GOOD blood glucose control As near as possible to NORMAL[about 5 nearly all the time. That way the feet stay healthy and you can treat them pretty much as non-diabetic.
If however, your feet are not healthy, get an appointment with the podiatry department. In England, you can refer yourself. Get any problems sorted and ask for their advice.
Hana
Ps I treat my, Healthy feet, as a non-diabetic would. They scored 10/10 on their last checks. I use cream and a rasp if necessary and since I am prone to ingrowing toenails as a result of the shape of my toes[not damaged by shoes} I clip the sides of the nails on my big toes to prevent ingrowers. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone else, but it works for my feet, which are definitely HEALTHY.
Hana