Exercising with Diabetes – Take Care of your Feet!

Published on:  Hive Health Media

For many people diagnosed with Type II Diabetes, there is a strong correlation between being overweight and the illness itself. Specialists recommend the obvious dietary changes to help manage and even in some cases, reverse this illness which has now reached epidemic proportions, but exercise is also a valuable management tool.

Exercise helps manage diabetes in two key ways:

1. By contributing to weight loss and weight management, which is connected to reducing your risk of diabetic related complications, and
2. By improving your circulation – a key risk for diabetes, particularly when circulation to your outer extremities like hands and feet is impaired. Reduced circulation results in loss of sensation and can greatly slow down the healing of ulcers, burns and other skin complaints.

Exercise also has a number of other benefits for diabetics or those in a pre-diabetic state, including lowering levels of ‘bad’ cholesterol (LDL) and increasing ‘good’ HDL cholesterol; lowering your blood sugar levels; lowering blood pressure; reducing stress and the risk of cardiovascular issues – and generally increasing your sense of wellbeing.

If you have had diabetes for some time, and you also have a weight issue, you need to take care with your choice of exercise, especially when you are first starting to increase your fitness.

For many, starting out with a fairly brisk 30 – 40 minute walk about three times a week will start to have beneficial effects.

When you are walking, aim to raise your heart rate above what it would be when you are sitting or resting, but you still want to be able to talk easily – in other words, don’t walk so quickly that you are puffing or out of breath.

Make sure you also have a good pair of shoes to wear and even consider investing in some special diabetic socks designed to prevent and reduce the risk of foot injury.

If you are buying a new pair of shoes for walking, you might also like to spend a little more to get some custom fitted orthotics made from shock resistant foam that helps to cushion your feet from impact and reduce the impact on your joints. Proper diabetes foot care makes a huge difference in your overall health and mobility – the last thing you want is to be restrained to the couch because of foot pain and injuries.

You might also like to do something to help improve your flexibility – beginner yoga or Tai Chi, or even some simple daily stretching exercises.

With any exercise program, let your doctor know before you begin and set yourself reasonable goals – being overenthusiastic to start with can result in injury and the muscular aches and pains might be enough to put you off.

Getting out in the fresh air and sunshine has lots of benefits too, and regular walking can be a lot of fun especially if you have a dog to walk, or you make a point of regularly meeting up with friends to walk in the park or around your local streets.

In the winter time, you can go walking around your local indoor shopping mall instead, or invest in something like a wii fit for your television or a few exercise videos that mean you can exercise at home.

Whatever you choose to do, start gently, wear good shoes and have fun!

Please call the Foot, Ankle & Lower Leg Center office anytime @702-878-2455 between Monday – Friday and we would be happy to set up an appointment for you.  Please visit our website @ www.FallCenter.com or www.walkwithdiabetes.com.   The Foot, Ankle & Lower Leg Center has Diagnostic imaging:  Digital X-Rays, Ultrasound or Advanced Imaging will be used to aid in the diagnosis.

Dr. Anthony Ricciardi at the Foot, Ankle & Lower Leg Center has completed training in endoscopic/minimally invasive surgery for chronic heel pain and nerve pain, foot and ankle joint replacement for restoring pain free motion, arthroscopic surgery, bunion surgery, fracture repair, flat foot correction, external fixation for complex deformities and extensive experience in peripheral nerve surgery including diabetic peripheral neuropathy and reconstructive surgery of previously failed foot surgical procedures.  In addition to his surgical training Dr. Ricciardi focuses on sports medicine of the foot and ankle through regenerative techniques using the patient’s own blood/platelets for healing chronic foot and ankle problems (pain) as a result of repetitive sport injuries.  This cutting edge technology enables patients to continue training with little or no down time.  Dr. Ricciardi continues to be active in teaching and training other podiatric surgeons on innovative surgical techniques in foot surgery.  Dr. Ricciardi is Board Certified by the American Board of Podiatric Surgery, a Fellow of the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons and Fellow of the Association of Extremity Nerve Surgeons.  Dr. Ricciardi’s vision is to bring each patient the most current state of the Art Technology and personalized treatment options to meet their Foot and Ankle needs (from conservative care to surgical options).  Dr. Ricciardi believes in quality service and puts his patients first!