Curative Health Services' Wound Care Centers Stress the Importance of Proper Footcare in Summer Months.

Business Editors & Health/Medical Writers

HAUPPAUGE, N.Y.--(BW HealthWire)--May 2, 2001

As the days grow longer and temperatures rise, more people head outside to enjoy the beauty of spring and the dawn of summer. Although it may be tempting to walk barefoot in the grass or sand, you may want to reconsider if you are one of the 16 million Americans with diabetes.

Individuals with diabetes have a greater risk for developing a condition called neuropathy, or nerve damage, one of the most common complications of diabetes. It develops gradually, usually in the feet, and results in numbness and the loss of the protective sensation that signals pain in body extremities. Neuropathy often goes undetected.

"We can't stress enough how important it is to wear shoes at all times if you have diabetes," said Paula Sotir, BSN, Vice President of Operations at Curative Health Services. "I've heard countless stories about people with diabetes stepping on glass, stones or other sharp objects and not even knowing it because they have limited sensation in their feet."

If untreated, an injury as minor as a small cut or blister can become a serious wound resulting in chronic infection, gangrene and possibly amputation. Something as easy as using a mirror to check the bottoms of feet for small cracks or cuts could help make the difference in early treatment.

Sotir recommends people with diabetes adhere to some of these basic guidelines to keep feet injury-free this spring and summer:

-- Never go barefoot indoors or outdoors.

-- Wear comfortable, well fitting shoes, and avoid open-toe shoes and sandals.

-- Always wear seamless socks or stockings with shoes.

-- Avoid exposing feet to extreme heat by not walking barefoot on hot pavement
or sand, and wear sunscreen to protect feet from the sun.

-- When grooming toenails, trim them straight across. Gently round the corners
with a fine emery board or pumice stone. Consult a physician or podiatrist if a
corn or callus should be removed.

-- Use moisturizing lotion to lubricate excessively dry feet.

Wound Care Centers consider a chronic nonhealing wound to be one that has not demonstrated notable improvement after four weeks, or has not healed after a period of eight weeks.

Wound Care Centers(R) are members of Curative Health Services' nationwide network of wound care specialists. This national network of over 130 hospital-based Wound Care Centers in 33 states, has offered comprehensive treatment to over 300,000 patients, achieving a more than 90 percent patient satisfaction rate. Curative Health Services (www.curative.com) is a leading disease management company based in Hauppauge, NY.

Please call 800/991-HEAL for more information about the comprehensive treatment available at the nearest Wound Care Center.