Diabetes · 4 min read · 2025-11-01

Feet, diabetes, and the cut you cannot feel

A small nail-corner infection is a nuisance in a healthy foot. In a numb diabetic foot it can become an admission.

This page is general education for families in Gurugram. It is not a diagnosis, a medicine list, or a reason to skip a clinician. Doses are deliberately not given.

In plain language

High sugar over years damages the nerves that report pain and the arteries that bring blood. The foot then accepts a pebble in the shoe, a hot water bottle, or a bathroom blade without protest. Infection enters, and healing is slow because the blood supply and the sugar are both poor.

Signs worth noticing

Look at the soles every night, or ask someone else to. A mirror on the floor works.

Numbness, burning, or a feeling of walking on cotton.
A blister after new chappals, especially after a wedding.
Skin that is black, cold, or hairless on the toes.
A callus with a hidden sore underneath.

What usually sits underneath

Nerve damage, poor circulation, dry skin, badly cut nails, and barefoot walking on hot terraces are the usual chain. High sugars make each of those harder to recover from.

Care that is reasonable at home

Wash in lukewarm water, not hot. Test with the elbow if sensation is poor.
Dry between the toes. Moisture there invites fungus.
Use a soft file, not a blade, on corns. Never cut a corn at a salon.
Wear closed footwear outdoors, even inside a courtyard. Shake the shoe out before it goes on.

Moisturise the tops and soles if the skin cracks, but not the spaces between toes. Cream left there stays wet.

When waiting is a bad idea

A red, hot, swollen foot, with or without pain.
Any black patch, or a wound that smells.
Fever plus a foot wound.

How Rao Lokram Charitable Trust fits in

Come the same day for a hot or open foot. Routine OPD can also do a simple sensation check and teach the inspection you will actually repeat. OPD runs Monday to Sunday, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM at Near Rockford School, Anaj Mandi Chowk, Kadipur Road, Shakti Park, Sector 10A, Gurugram, Haryana. Call 98185 48492 or 70423 28047. There is no appointment form on this website.

Questions people ask

Can I soak my feet?

A short wash is enough. Long soaks macerate skin and hide cuts.

Are special diabetic shoes compulsory?

Well-fitting ordinary shoes that do not rub are the priority. Custom footwear is for feet that have already deformed or ulcerated.

What if I feel nothing?

That is the reason to look, not the reason to relax. Loss of pain is the danger.

If this sounds like you, bring the article on your phone if you want, but let the clinician examine you. Old reports and a list of current medicines make the visit shorter.