Treating The Diabetic Foot: Alternative and Traditional Treatment Options
Diabetes and the diagnosis and the diabetic foot ulcer treatments in today’s patients have made improvements. The typical procedure involves the use of surgery to help control and eventually remove the infection from the foot.
The most important factor at this point is the recognition and correct assessment of the wound. Keep in mind that there are presently 30 million confirmed cases of diabetes in the world today. Also, 25% of these cases will have a foot ulcer at some point in their lifetime.
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Foot Ulcers
From experience, these foot ulcers are devasting to the patient. They restrict movement in the day to day life and even have more profound threats the involve the quality of life of these diabetic patients.
There is an excellent likelihood that if these ulcers remain untreated, amputation will be the last recourse to save the life of the patient. These ulcers are filled with infection, that if allowed to spread to the remainder of the body, would put the patient in danger and put the life at risk. Therefore, the diagnosis and treatment of these ulcers are imperative.
Surgery
One diabetic foot ulcer treatment for these ulcers is surgery. Surgery of the foot with regards to diabetes has two primary functions. The first is to control the infection.
This is due to addressing the wound or ulcer and draining the puss and removing damaged or infected tissue. The cleaning of the wound is a crucial step, and if not done correctly, the wound or ulcer will not heal.
The main issue is that the healing factors of people with diabetes are greatly reduced. Even providing antibiotics to aid the removal and prevention of infection, does not always give the desired results that the surgeon is hoping will occur. So it is imperative that cleaning the wound and controlling the infection will bring the surgeon to complete the second function of surgery.
Preserve the Limb
The second function is to preserve the limb. More importantly, to keep a functional limb. Frequently, the foot will need to be revascularized, thereby improving circulation within the foot.
This increased circulation will allow the foot to heal naturally at an improved pace compared to the typical diabetic foot. All of the above actions and outcomes are at the hands of the surgeon.
Additional Information
For additional information, you should look up “bone specialist near me.” This listing will provide surgeons in your area as this surgeon needs to be skilled and experienced in a multitude of disciplines.
This overall increased education or specialty area will increase the area of success. In the end, more diabetic patients with foot ulcers will have positive outcomes with surgical treatments based on these criteria.
All of this improved treatment, therefore, reduces amputations and improves the quality of life of a diabetic patient. These surgeons can be located in private practice, your local hospital, or your local Veteran’s Administration Hospital. You should look up a bone specialist near me for a complete list.
New Treatment
Now, we are not always looking for surgery to solve all of our physical needs. Another new treatment uses The Dermapace System (Sanuwave, Inc., Suwanee, GA). Once the puss and infection are under being treated and under control, this new system uses sound waves to stimulate the wound and thereby increase the healing factor.
The treatment itself is designed for adults the chronic foot ulcers. Additionally, these ulcers are to be smaller than 16cm. Overall, this treatment is intended to be used with traditional diabetic care.
These sonic waves have been proven to increase the healing factor by up to as much as 44% in some patients, thereby reducing their need for further surgical methods.
Studies of over 300 patients that were given 1 to 7 treatments over a 24-week time span showed the increased healing factor or this shock wave. Patients with placebo treatment showed only a 30% increase. So this shock wave treatment does have positive results in the improvement of healing in these diabetic patients.
Conclusion
Finally, knowing first hand the devastating effects of foot ulcers and have seen the aftermath, it is imperative that the diabetic patient pays close attention to their feet.
Watch carefully for the development of any sores and ulcers. Early diagnosis will aid in the treatment of these items. Additionally, by paying careful attention to the feet, the patient will increase their chances of living a healthy and complete life.
We don’t like to admit our weaknesses. However, people with diabetes are prone to these ulcers. These ulcers will change the quality of life of the diabetic patient for the worse if they are left untreated.
These untreated ulcers can lead to the amputation of limbs, from a foot to the leg. Pay special attention to this area. If you are receiving treatment, remain vigilant. Watch carefully for changes in the wound or ulcer. Any changes should be reported to your doctor or surgeon immediately.
