Are Your Pipes Clogged?

There are many factors that go into healing a wound. You have to make sure that there is good nutrition, that the wound has the right kind of bed to form new skin on and most importantly that there is good blood flow. As a diabetic patient, there are many things that you need to be concerned about. These include your sugar, your kidneys and your feet. Blood flow can decrease both with age and the contribution from diabetes making it tougher for blood to get to your toes. Think of it like a water pipe. If that pipe is all cleaned out, water can go through easily, but the more sludge and grime, the harder it is for the water to get through.

So, you might be wondering what a podiatrist can do for your arteries. A podiatrist serves as a preventative caregiver for your feet. By having you come in once a year for a check-up, we are able to assess your blood flow, how well your nerves are working, and make sure you don't have any problem areas like calluses or thin skin that needs to be seen more often. When your arteries are checked in the office, if they cannot be felt or heard with special equipment, then your podiatrist will know that you need to be sent for further studies.

These studies start out really basic with a test that just uses blood pressure cuffs to assess the flow in your arms compared to your legs. It gives us an idea how much blood is really getting to your toes. If these come back showing any kind of decreased flow than there are further studies and treatments that can be done to get your arteries working better.

So, if you or someone you know has diabetes, you should seek help from your podiatrist. If you live in the Lowell or Reading, Massachusetts area, Dr. Wachtel would be more than happy to see you and help treat your feet. We are also happy to announce our Methuen and North Andover offices located at 451 Andover St. Suite 300, North Andover MA 01845 and 87 Jackson St, Methuen, MA 01835.

Diabetic Foot Care

Are you a diabetic patient? If you are, there is a lot of good that a podiatrist can do for you. Podiatrist can check your feet and ensure that you don’t have any additional problems that are affecting your feet as a result of the diabetes. Diabetes can cause conditions such as neuropathy, ulcerations and poor healing.

Neuropathy is a condition that results due to damage to your nerves. When your sugar is consistently too high, it causes your blood to not run as well and causes your nerves to not function properly. You will start out feeling tingling and shooting pains. Eventually, this will progress to the inability to feel things touching your feet. This can result in a lot of damage, because if you don’t feel something like a rock in your shoe, you can end up rubbing a blister or even an ulcer on your foot.

Another problem that can result from diabetes is poor blood flow. It is important that you regularly have your pulses checked. This is the first signal that will show your doctor that you may need further tests to make sure that you are getting enough blood and nutrients to your feet. If you are not, this can end up cutting off blood from your feet and end up causing ulcers.

Another issue is that sometimes, you may not be able to see your feet well due to damage to your eyes from your diabetes. In this situation, it is really important to see your podiatrist, because they will be able to check your feet for any ulcers or ingrown toenails.

We offer a free book from our office that outlines diabetic foot problems and treatment. You can order it from our website. So, if you or someone you know has diabetes, you should seek help from your podiatrist. If you live in the Tewksbury or Reading, Massachusetts area, Dr. Wachtel would be more than happy to see you and help inspect your feet. We are also happy to announce our Methuen and North Andover offices located at 451 Andover St. Suite 300, North Andover MA 01845 and 87 Jackson St, Methuen, MA 01835.

Are You Diabetic? Do You Have a Wound?

How do you treat a diabetic ulcer? There are many different ways that your podiatrist can use to treat your ulcer. These include antibiotics to treat any infection that may be present, silver padding for the ulcer, skin grafts to promote your ulcer to fill in and heal and padding to offload the ulcer.

Padding an ulcer is the most important thing that you can do because a neuropathic ulcer usually results from pressure in an area. In order to get it to heal, you have to remove the pressure from the area. This can only be done by using lots of padding to protect your foot. This is why we use a large amount of bandaging to protect it and then give you a surgical boot or padded protective device to surround your foot. Even more important is to not walk on your foot as much as possible. This will reduce the pressure on your foot even more.

Antibiotics are important for any wound that is suspected to be infected. A culture will often be done to determine if there is indeed an infection. Antibiotics will then be prescribed for the particular bug that grows on the culture. Infection can impede the healing process of your ulcer and can often compromise the treatment plan, because skin grafts can be rendered useless in an infected wound. We also use silver impregnated foams to fight off any infection from the area.

Skin grafts function to be able to fill in an ulcer. It promotes healing by allowing healthy cells to build into the graft. The graft will actually incorporate into your skin and allow skin to build on top of your graft. This may take several times to fill in the ulcer because an ulcer heals from the bottom up, filling in as the ulcer heals.

If you or someone you know has an ulcer, it is important for your to come in and have your ulcer treated so that your ulcer does not progress and lead to a worse condition. If you live in the North Billerica or Boston, Massachusetts area, then Dr. Wachtel would be more than happy to see you. We are also happy to announce our Methuen and North Andover offices located at 451 Andover St. Suite 300, North Andover MA 01845 and 87 Jackson St, Methuen, MA 01835.

Diabetic Foot Care

Why is it so important to have a podiatrist if you are diabetic? Diabetics have a greater predisposition to have diabetic foot problems, such as neuropathy and ulcers. In order to determine if you have a possibility of getting these conditions, your podiatrist will perform specific diabetic tests.

Some of these tests include using a monofilament, the same as fishing line, to determine if you can feel pressure on the bottom of your foot or the top. This allows us to see if you have feeling in your foot or not. If you do not then it means that you do not have any feeling on the bottom of your foot and if you have a pebble or something else in your shoe then you will not be able to feel it. That means that if you can’t feel it, you won’t realize that it hurts and you can rub an ulcer on your foot.

Another test uses a tuning fork to determine if you can feel vibration. This is one of the most important tests for a new diabetic, because vibratory feeling is the first feeling that will leave your feet. It is a way for us to gauge if you are already starting to experience the signs of neuropathy. If you are, then there are some medications that you can be given, that will help to slow down the development of neuropathy. As of right now, there is no cure, unfortunately.

If you do have neuropathy, then it is especially important for you to come in for your diabetic check-ups. Since you cannot feel your feet, if you do not look at the bottoms of your feet then you may never see that there is an ulcer on the bottom of your foot. The longer that an ulcer is open on your foot and not being treated the more likely you are to develop an infection.

If you or someone you know has been diagnosed with diabetes then it is important that you come in for an initial evaluation with a podiatrist. If you live in the Dracut or Chelmsford, Massachusetts area, then Dr. Wachtel’s staff would be more than happy to help you schedule an appointment. We are also happy to announce our Methuen and North Andover offices located at 451 Andover St. Suite 300, North Andover MA 01845 and 87 Jackson St, Methuen, MA 01835.

Diabetic Ulcer Prevention with Orthotics

Diabetic foot care is all about the prevention of ulcers, neuropathy and the quick treatment if any of these conditions develop. Ulcerations is a huge concern for diabetic patients because a break in the skin of a diabetic patient can quickly lead to a medical emergency and amputation. It is not a matter that should be taken lightly and it requires immediate attention from a podiatrist.

Once a person with diabetes develops an ulcer, they are at risk for an ulcer in that location for the rest of their life. This is due to the fact that when skin heals, it will never return to its original strength. Since we have learned this, podiatrists work to take special precautions with these areas of the foot. One way that we do this is through orthosis. Many times when people hear about orthotics they think about inserts that change the position of the foot, diabetic orthosis are a little bit different. They are molded to fit the shape of your foot exactly so that there is no space between your foot and the surface of the orthosis. This serves to prevent any areas of increased pressure. Now, if you have an area that has had an ulcer in the past or is more prone to one, then your podiatrist will take the proper steps to provide extra accommodations for that area.

It is also necessary to come in for routine care every 2-3 months so that your podiatrist can keep an eye on you. They will be able to check between your toes and on your feet for any signs of ulcers or areas that may be prone to getting an ulcer. Through the relationship you form with your podiatrist you will be able to work together to help prevent any medical complications. It is very important that you maintain this relationship.

If you or someone you know has diabetes, our office would be more than happy to help you schedule an appointment. Our offices serve Billerica, Dracut, Westford and Methuen, Massachusetts. Dr. Wachtel would be more than happy to form a relationship with you to provide the best diabetic preventative care he can.