Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsSignsWhat a Foot Ulcer Isn’tRisksTreatmentsStagesEveryday CareWhat to Do If It’s Not Healing
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Signs
What a Foot Ulcer Isn’t
Risks
Treatments
Stages
Everyday Care
What to Do If It’s Not Healing
Foot ulcers are sores that develop from a breakdown of skin on the foot, often from an injury, pressure, friction, and/or shearing over time. Certain conditions likediabetes, peripheralartery disease, andperipheral neuropathyaffect the skin’s ability to heal and increase the risk of foot ulcers. Because foot ulcers can get worse over time and can lead to infections and other complications, it is important to get medical treatment early on.
This article will review how to tell if you have a foot ulcer, as well as its causes, complications, and foot ulcer treatment options.
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How to Tell If You Have a Foot Ulcer
Foot ulcersare open wounds that develop anywhere on the foot. They are deep red, yellow, black, purple, or discolored sores that can ooze pus. They affect the deeper layers of skin, sometimes spreading to muscle, tendon, or bone.
While they may be very tender and painful, foot ulcers often develop in people who have diminished sensation in their feet. In these cases, the ulcers can continue to worsen but not feel painful. Foot ulcers often develop and worsen over several weeks or months without people knowing because they do not sense the pain.
Your healthcare provider can diagnose foot ulcers through a physical examination. If signs of infection are suspected, a sample of cells may be removed to perform a skinbiopsyor wound culture to check for bacteria or viruses.
What Is a Skin Ulcer?
Foot ulcers differ from other skin conditions that affect the feet because they are deep open wounds. Other conditions that affect the feet are typically more superficial and occur on the outside layer of the skin.Callusesandcornsare thickened, toughened areas of skin, whileblistersare small fluid-filled sacs that often develop on the toes.Plantar wartscan develop on the bottom of the feet and also appear on the outer layer of the skin.
Why Is There a Bump on the Bottom of My Foot?
Risks of an Untreated Foot Ulcer
Untreated foot ulcers can worsen over time, leading to infection and progressive destruction of skin and underlying tissues. A small wound easily progresses to a foot ulcer due to poor blood supply, decreased sensation (peripheral neuropathy), and an impaired ability to heal, especially due to inflammation from high blood sugar.
If foot ulcers are severe and spread to muscle and bone, part or all of the foot may need to be amputated if other treatments cannot effectively treat the wound. It is estimated that 84% of nontraumatic lower limb amputations result from foot ulcers that spread and do not heal.
Treatment for foot ulcers requires several steps to relieve pressure, preserve the skin, and treat the wound. All types of foot ulcers benefit from the same treatment, while more specific methods can be used for foot ulcers due to diabetes:
If you have diabetes, other treatments will also be needed to help treat a foot ulcer. A persistent state ofhyperglycemia(high blood sugar) leads to a chronic state of inflammation and oxidative stress, which destroys nerves and impairs the body’s ability to heal.
Because hyperglycemia impairs wound healing, controlling blood sugar levels is incredibly important for treating foot ulcers and preventing them from returning. Blood sugar can be controlled through diet, exercise, and medication.
What Is Diabetic Neuropathy?
Foot Ulcer Stages
Foot ulcers progress in stages as they get worse over time and spread deeper into underlying tissues below the skin’s surface.
Foot ulcers are graded based on the Wagner classification system:
Everyday Foot Care With Ulcers
Preventive measures are key for avoiding foot ulcers from forming. Wearing properly fitting, supportive footwear that does not compress the foot or rub and cause irritation can help keep the surface of the skin intact. Examining your feet daily for sores, cuts, or skin breakdown is also important to monitor for the development of foot ulcers. If a wound is caught early and treated right away, you can prevent a foot ulcer from forming and dangerous complications from resulting.
Foot Ulcer Not Healing
If you have a foot ulcer that does not start to heal after one week, contact your healthcare provider to begin treatment. You should also contact your healthcare provider if you have a large, deep foot ulcer that is painful, increasing in size, or shows any signs of infection including redness, swelling, pus, a bad smell, or a fever.
Summary
Foot ulcers are open wounds that develop on the feet from skin breakdown following injury or repeated friction and irritation over time. They are deeper than other skin conditions and can progress to underlying tissues like muscles and bones. Having diabetes, peripheral artery disease, and peripheral neuropathy increases the risk of developing foot ulcers because they affect the body’s ability to heal.
Treatment includes offloading shoes, physical therapy, medication, specialized wound dressings, negative pressure wound therapy, debridement, and surgery. Wearing properly fitting footwear and regularly checking your feet can help prevent foot ulcers from developing.
3 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Dayya D, O’Neill OJ, Huedo-Medina TB, Habib N, Moore J, Iyer K.Debridement of diabetic foot ulcers.Adv Wound Care (New Rochelle).2022 Dec;11(12):666-686. doi: 10.1089/wound.2021.0016Lim JZ, Ng NS, Thomas C.Prevention and treatment of diabetic foot ulcers.J R Soc Med.2017 Mar;110(3):104-109. doi: 10.1177/0141076816688346.Reardon R, Simring D, Kim B, Mortensen J, Williams D, Leslie A.The diabetic foot ulcer.Aust J Gen Pract.2020 May;49(5):250-255. doi: 10.31128/AJGP-11-19-5161.
3 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Dayya D, O’Neill OJ, Huedo-Medina TB, Habib N, Moore J, Iyer K.Debridement of diabetic foot ulcers.Adv Wound Care (New Rochelle).2022 Dec;11(12):666-686. doi: 10.1089/wound.2021.0016Lim JZ, Ng NS, Thomas C.Prevention and treatment of diabetic foot ulcers.J R Soc Med.2017 Mar;110(3):104-109. doi: 10.1177/0141076816688346.Reardon R, Simring D, Kim B, Mortensen J, Williams D, Leslie A.The diabetic foot ulcer.Aust J Gen Pract.2020 May;49(5):250-255. doi: 10.31128/AJGP-11-19-5161.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Dayya D, O’Neill OJ, Huedo-Medina TB, Habib N, Moore J, Iyer K.Debridement of diabetic foot ulcers.Adv Wound Care (New Rochelle).2022 Dec;11(12):666-686. doi: 10.1089/wound.2021.0016Lim JZ, Ng NS, Thomas C.Prevention and treatment of diabetic foot ulcers.J R Soc Med.2017 Mar;110(3):104-109. doi: 10.1177/0141076816688346.Reardon R, Simring D, Kim B, Mortensen J, Williams D, Leslie A.The diabetic foot ulcer.Aust J Gen Pract.2020 May;49(5):250-255. doi: 10.31128/AJGP-11-19-5161.
Dayya D, O’Neill OJ, Huedo-Medina TB, Habib N, Moore J, Iyer K.Debridement of diabetic foot ulcers.Adv Wound Care (New Rochelle).2022 Dec;11(12):666-686. doi: 10.1089/wound.2021.0016
Lim JZ, Ng NS, Thomas C.Prevention and treatment of diabetic foot ulcers.J R Soc Med.2017 Mar;110(3):104-109. doi: 10.1177/0141076816688346.
Reardon R, Simring D, Kim B, Mortensen J, Williams D, Leslie A.The diabetic foot ulcer.Aust J Gen Pract.2020 May;49(5):250-255. doi: 10.31128/AJGP-11-19-5161.
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