Nerve and vascular issues can lead to difficult-to-heal foot ulcers that require specialized attention. At Redlands Podiatry Group PC in Redlands, California, the team led by podiatrist Mathew Morris, DPM, FACFAS, sets the standard for foot ulcer care, using the most advanced healing techniques to save your feet and get you back to walking comfortably. Call the office to schedule an appointment today.
Foot ulcers are open sores that don’t heal as they should. When healing is slow or doesn’t happen at all, the skin starts to break down around the wound. The damage can spread, moving into the foot’s other tissues and bones, and infection often sets in.
Untreated foot ulcers could eventually lead to amputation of the foot or even the whole leg. But quickly treating foot ulcers can preserve your foot health and keep you mobile.
Foot ulcers most commonly occur in people with diabetes. Nerve and blood vessel damage, both common in diabetes, can lead to rapid-growing foot wounds. This type of ulcer is particularly common on the bottom of the feet, where they’re less noticeable.
Non-diabetics can have foot ulcers too. Any kind of circulatory issue, whether affecting the veins or the arteries, can lead to difficulty in healing wounds, ultimately causing ulcers in the lower part of the legs, ankles, or feet.
The Redlands Podiatry Group PC team diagnoses foot ulcers with a medical history review and physical exam. They’ll ask about your symptoms, like pain and mobility issues, to better understand how your ulcer affects your life.
The team determines the severity of your ulcer using a graded scale that ranges from a superficial shallow wound to dead tissue reaching throughout the entire foot.
The deeper the ulcer and the wider it spreads, the more serious the problem becomes — and the harder it is to treat. So it’s important to schedule an evaluation as soon as you notice a slow-healing wound.
Foot ulcer treatment involves stimulating healthy healing as quickly as possible. Some common aspects of this include:
Other treatments may also be part of your recovery process. In the most severe cases of foot ulcers, you could need amputation of a toe or foot to prevent the damage from moving into other parts of your body.
If you have a foot wound that’s not healing, don’t wait to get help. Call the Redlands Podiatry Group PC office to schedule an appointment today.