Special socks may ward off diabetic foot sores
The difficult-to-heal foot sores that people with Diabetes are prone to develop might be prevented with double-layer socks, going by the results of a small study.
The foot-care socks apparently reduce in-shoe pressure on the underside of the foot, which “is an acknowledged risk factor in the development of (foot) ulcers” in people with nerve damage related to diabetes, report Dr. Adam P. Garrow, of Withington Hospital, Manchester, UK, and colleagues.
The special socks have a double-layer construction consisting of a padded outer layer to cushion the feet, as well as a low-friction fiber inner layer to reduce friction at the sock/foot interface.
The research team examined whether the preventive foot-care socks reduce pressures on the underside of the foot in a group of 19 diabetics with peripheral nerve damage. Fifteen were men, and the average age was 65.5 years.
Differences in maximum foot contact area and foot pressure were measured with the preventive foot-care socks and with conventional supermarket socks.
What Is foot ulcer?
A foot ulcer is an open sore on the foot. Some foot ulcers are superficial, producing a shallow red crater that involves only the surface skin. Other foot ulcers are very deep, producing a crater that extends through the full thickness of the skin, and sometimes involves tendons, bones and other deep structures. In vulnerable people, especially those with diabetes or poor circulation, even a small foot ulcer can become infected if it is not treated quickly and efficiently. If this infection is allowed to progress, it can evolve into an abscess (a localized pocket of pus), an area of cellulitis (a deep infection of the tissue beneath the skin), osteomyelitis (bone infection) or gangrene. Among people with diabetes, a seemingly simple foot ulcer is the initial problem in approximately 85 percent of severe foot infections that ultimately require amputation of some part of the lower leg.
As reported in the medical journal Diabetes Care, when the participants wore the double-layer socks, maximum foot contact area was increased significantly, meaning that pressure points were eased. This was accompanied by a reduction of 5.4 kg in total foot pressure.
“Compared with the supermarket socks which were approximately 0.7 mm thick, the maximum thickness of the preventive foot care hosiery was 2.7 mm,” Garrow’s team explains.
“Although 2 mm may represent only a moderate increase in bulk inside the shoe, additional care in the fitting of shoes is nonetheless required when considering the use of such hosiery to avoid any localized increases in foot pressures,” they advise.
Altering the kind of socks people wear is a simple, inexpensive way of protecting at-risk feet in the diabetic population, the researchers suggest. Now they need further studies to see if the socks really do prevent diabetic foot ulcers.
SOURCE: Diabetes Care, August 2005.
Also Read:
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Foot Ulcers
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Revision date: July 8, 2011
Last revised: by Tatiana Kuznetsova, D.M.D.