"Doctor, I've been feeling a lot of swelling and pain lately, what's wrong?”
Doctor, my wound is festering and has not been getting better, help me!”
As a national key specialty of traditional Chinese medicine, the Vascular Department of Shanghai Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine has patients from all over the country coming to see patients every day, and many patients have the same disease, that is, diabetic foot, which is a very serious complication of diabetes.
People with diabetic foot will feel cold and numb in their feet at first, and sometimes they will feel a stinging pain like a pinprick in a pin, and gradually, it will affect normal walking, and even the toes will become necrotic and black, and the feet will rot. Diabetic foot, on the other hand, is likely to be at risk of amputation if not properly cared for.
Every 20 seconds in the world, there is a case of amputation of a diabetic patient, so patients must pay attention to foot care in their daily life, and if they accidentally break and are injured, they must seek medical attention in time to avoid worsening their condition.
So, in daily life, how can diabetic foot patients properly do home care?
1. Control risk factors such as blood sugar.
1. It is necessary to adhere to the standard hypoglycemia **, monitor blood sugar, and blood sugar control is the basis of diabetic foot**.
Long-term hyperglycemia will lead to blood vessels becoming hard, brittle, thickened, deformed, inflamed, lesions, etc., causing thrombosis, resulting in vascular occlusion, poor metabolism, neurotrophic disorders, aggravating nerve damage, and necrosis of body organs. Foot vascular occlusion is the most serious, which can easily cause edema, blackening, decay, necrosis, ulcers, and foot necrosis. Therefore, it is necessary to strictly control blood sugar, if the blood sugar control is not ideal, it is necessary to seek medical attention in time to adjust hypoglycemic drugs, and use insulin ** if necessary.
2. Quit smoking and drinking, control blood pressure and blood lipids.
Smoking can cause blood sugar to rise or fluctuate, reduce insulin sensitivity, make blood sugar difficult to control, cause macrovascular and microvascular lesions, and make peripheral blood vessels circulate poorly, increasing the incidence of foot ulcers.
2. Choose shoes and socks that suit you.
1. Choose comfortable, well-fitting and breathable shoes to prevent abrasion of feet and feet.
Do not wear shoes with high heels, hard soles, and small sizes, and ensure that the shoes are wide enough to avoid excessive pressure on the feet, and to ensure that the inside of the shoes is dry, so as to avoid the feet from being worn and compressed, or causing athlete's foot to break.
2. Choose socks made of soft material, such as cotton thread and wool, and the closing of the socks should not be too tight, otherwise it will affect the blood circulation of the feetChange socks every day, and socks are scalded and disinfected with hot water. It is advisable to choose white socks, white socks can be the first to detect bleeding and ulceration of the feet.
3. Do a good job of foot cleaning and care.
1. Check your feet every day and pay attention to whether there are cracks, blisters or ulcers on each foot. Patients who are unable to self-test can have a family member perform the test on their behalf, and if any abnormalities are found, they should be treated promptly or go to the hospital. If the patient's feet have calluses, corns, etc., do not treat them by themselves, but must go to the hospital for a doctor to deal with them.
2. Wash your feet with warm water every day, the water temperature should not be too high, be careful of scalding (diabetics due to long-term hyperglycemia caused by nerve conduction disorders, pain fiber damage, can not well avoid external mechanical damage and temperature damage), the water temperature is below 40 degrees Celsius, the general foot soaking time is controlled at 5-10 minutes, after washing, gently dry the feet with a soft dry towel**, wipe gently, pay attention to carefully clean the toe gaps.
3. Keep your feet moist after washing, you can apply urea cream or moisturizer, and do not apply body lotion between your toes. You can massage the feet appropriately, pay attention to the gentle movements, and massage from the bottom to the top. If there is a thrombosis in the lower limbs, massage is prohibited!
4. Trim the toenail reasonably, and do not cut the two sides of the toenail too short, which will cause paronychia and induce foot infection.
5. Prevent burns. Be especially careful when warming your feet, be cautious about warming your feet with infrared lamps and hot water bottles to prevent burns, and use thick socks and blankets to keep warm.
6. You can exercise appropriately. Walk and exercise appropriately, avoid walking and standing for long periods of time to avoid foot ulcers.
Fourth, the use of traditional Chinese medicine characteristic nursing methods.
The TCM syndrome differentiation of diabetic foot disease is mainly divided into two parts: the non-ulcerative stage and the ulcerative stage.
The non-ulcerating stage is that the lower limbs have not ulcerated or gangrene, and the main symptoms are cold and painful toes, intermittent claudication, and the disappearance of the Zhaoyang pulse. The ulcerative stage is the occurrence of ulcers, ulcers or gangrene. Diabetic foot patients should do a good job of staged care according to their own conditions, and it is recommended to use some traditional Chinese medicine characteristic nursing methods appropriately to promote the improvement of the disease.
1. Adjust diet: The theory of traditional Chinese medicine diet therapy has a long history, the amount of food is moderate, the sex and taste are balanced, the medicine and food are homologous, and there are many foods that are used with medicine and food, which have a good hypoglycemic effect. Such as wolfberry, yam, bitter gourd, kudzu, corn whisker, etc., ordinary vegetarian can be eaten appropriately. Excessive consumption of fat and sweetness affects the transportation function of the spleen and stomach, accumulates the spleen and stomach, turns heat over time, and burns the yin of the lungs and kidneys. Therefore, the patient's diet should be light and moderate. In addition, dietary remedies such as red bean barley tea, stewed winter melon with sweet potato leaves, etc., can control blood sugar and prevent the aggravation of diabetic foot.
2. Smooth emotion: Traditional Chinese medicine believes that the occurrence of diseases is nothing more than two types of internal and external pathogens: in the process of caring for patients, strengthen communication with patients, carefully explain the relevant knowledge of diabetic foot and nursing, channel negative emotions, and do a good job in emotional care.
3. Careful living: patients should maintain a good work and rest time, ensure adequate sleep, adjust the humidity and temperature of the patient's ward, keep the ward quiet and comfortable, and the air is fresh, so as to promote the patient's disease.
4. Acupoint massage: Diabetic foot ** often cooperates with acupressure to control blood sugar, such as kneading the inner courtyard acupoint, Guan Yuan acupoint, Yuji acupoint, Rangu acupoint, etc., which can play a good role in lowering blood sugar.
5. Auricular acupoints**: Auricular acupoints are "systemic diseases" by massaging the ears, which are the reaction points associated with the viscera. Auricular acupuncture** is to stimulate the acupuncture points or reaction points of the ear to adjust the function of the viscera and the human endocrine system to achieve the purpose of preventing and treating diseases. For example, the pancreaticobiliary point has the function of directly regulating pancreatic islets.
6. Traditional Chinese medicine pillow: mung bean skin, buckwheat husk, cassia seed, atractylodes, peppermint, etc. can be packed into medicine pillows, with the help of drug divergence to achieve the effect of clearing the liver and nourishing the heart, and can achieve the best effect while getting a good night's sleep.
7. Fumigation**: Traditional Chinese medicine fumigation can also be used in the non-ulcerative period, which has anti-inflammatory effect, can promote blood circulation, and has important value for the care of high-risk feet with diabetes. However, fumigation needs to be combined with syndrome differentiation and treatment to give the corresponding Chinese medicine**, and the Chinese medicine practitioner needs to guide the medication.
The Paper, for more original information, please **"The Paper" app).