Foot Problems

What can be done?

It’s wise for children and teens to develop good foot care habits to avoid problems as they get older, even though they don’t usually have foot infections, poor healing, or gangrene.  From an early age, they should be taught how to take good care of their feet, just as they learn how to take good care of their hair, teeth, and other parts of their body.  Good foot care means:

• checking the feet every day for sores, cuts, red and warm areas on the skin, changes in colour, strange odours and other problems. Look at the bottom of the feet for sores or blisters.
• washing the feet every day with warm water and patting dry.
• wearing well-fitting shoes that do not hurt
• cutting toenails straight across rather than rounding them
• avoiding ingrown toenails
• using lotion to keep the skin soft and prevent dry, cracked skin.
• avoiding crossing your legs, squatting, or kneeling for long periods of time.
• avoiding using heating pads, hot water bottles, or campfires to warm the feet.

	SIGN 1. Something that suggests the presence or existence of a fact, condition, or quality. 2. Observed evidence of a disease.

	NEUROPATHY Nerve damage or disease. May cause pain, numbness, tingling, difficulty controlling the muscles, or other problems.

	GLUCOSE The type of sugar that body cells need to supply energy.

	GANGRENE Tissue death.

	DIABETES A chronic metabolic disease in which the pancreas is not producing any or enough insulin or the body does not use insulin properly. Insulin is needed for the body to use blood glucose (sugar) for energy. There are several types of diabetes. Diabetes that occurs during pregnancy is called gestational diabetes.