If you or someone you know suffers from Diabetes, this is possibly the most important thing you will ever read! Click here for free preview....
High blood sugar levels can impair the body's ability to defend itself against infection. Poor circulation, common in people with poorly controlled diabetes can impair healing and prevent proper nutrients and oxygen from reaching tissues resulting in slower healing wounds.
1. Intact skin is the body's first line of defense against germs.
2. Excessive skin dryness contributes to breakdown of the skin.
3. Poor circulation leads to poor skin nutrition.
4. Some bacteria are necessary to maintain normal skin surface environment.
5. The greater the number of organisms, the greater the possibility of infection.
6. Germs and infections grow readily in warm, moist environments.
1. Skin should
a. be warm and supple
b. be free of redness, abrasions, and lumps
c. not be too dry or too oily
d. be free of irritations and free of any disease
e. be able to feel a pinprick, cold, heat, and touch
1. Keeping your skin clean is essential to the health of skin.
2. Wash your skin with warm water and non-abrasive soap as soon as you get cuts or abrasions.
3. Contact a physician if after 3 days there is increased pain, swelling, heat, or if the cut or burn is severe.
4. Keep your skin moist by using lanolin-based moisturizing lotions. This will help to prevent skin from overdrying, cracking, and becoming more susceptible to infection.
5. Dehydration is common in persons with diabetes who have poorly controlled blood sugar, so drink plenty of non-caloric fluids.
6. Report any unusual discharge or odor from any wound on your body.
7. Do not use any sharp objects to care for your wound, cut, or abrasion.
8. Avoid using abrasive soaps or chemicals/medicine on the skin or wound, such as alcohol, vinegar, gasoline, onion, garlic, iodine, etc.
9. Apply an antiseptic-type ointment to the wound and cover loosely. Change bandages when moist or as instructed by your health care provider.
10. Mucous membranes should be pink, moist, and warm. Report any abnormalities, such as cracking, peeling, itching, pain, heat, or discharge, etc., immediately.
11. Never massage limbs vigorously without a specific recommendation from a physician. Clots can be dislodged during massage, resulting in poor circulation to vital organs.
12. Keep your hair clean and dry at all times. Report any unusual hair patterns, such as unusual loss of hair to your physician.
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