1.What is diabetic foot? Diabetic foot is a disease state in which ulcers and gangrene occur in the lower limbs of diabetic patients due to neuropathy that reduces the protective function of the lower limbs and macrovascular and microvascular lesions that cause inadequate arterial perfusion resulting in impaired microcirculation. Diabetic foot is a serious complication of diabetes and is one of the major causes of disability and even death in diabetic patients, which not only causes pain to patients but also adds a huge economic burden to them. 2.What is the incidence of diabetic foot? Fifteen percent of diabetic patients will develop foot ulcers during their lifetime. The diabetic foot is the number one cause of amputation in many countries. In the United States, there are about 60,000 cases of non-traumatic lower limb surgery each year, 50% for diabetics. The amputation rate for diabetics is 15 times higher than for non-diabetics. According to statistics, there will be 1 leg amputated every 30 seconds worldwide due to diabetic foot. 3, what are the risk factors for the development of diabetic foot ulcers? (1) Past history of foot ulcers: Patients with a past history of foot ulcers are at high risk for the development of foot ulcers, and once the lack of post-operative wound care or large fluctuations in blood sugar can lead to the reoccurrence of foot ulcers. (2) Symptoms of neuropathy: numbness of the foot, decreased or absent sensory-touch or pain sensation or ischemic vasculopathy, exercise-induced gastrocnemius pain or coldness of the foot. (3) Signs of neuropathy: hot feet, non-sweaty skin, muscle atrophy, eagle claw-like toes, thickened skin at pressure points, very good pulse, good blood filling or signs of peripheral vasculopathy: cold feet, shiny thinning skin, loss of pulse and atrophy of subcutaneous tissue. (4) Other chronic complications of diabetes: severe renal failure or kidney transplantation, significant retinopathy; (5) Foot deformities: neurological and/or vascular lesions that are not severe but have severe foot deformities (6) Other risk factors: such as decreased vision, orthopedic problems that affect foot function such as knee, hip or spine arthritis, poorly fitting footwear, etc. (7) Personal factors: such as poor socioeconomic conditions, old age or living alone, lack of knowledge about diabetes, smoking, drinking, poor blood sugar control, etc. 4.What should I do after a diabetic foot ulcer occurs? Diabetic foot is very dangerous, many patients have more or less understanding of this disease, a burden suffering from this disease should be timely treatment, treatment for diabetic foot patients is very important, so must be timely detection of this disease, then, the occurrence of diabetic foot ulcers should do? (1) foot washing water temperature should not exceed 50 ℃, so the patient had better buy a water thermometer, each foot washing before measuring the water temperature. In addition, diabetic patients should not use hot water bags for heating in winter to prevent burns. Pay attention to the cleanliness of the feet, at least once a day with warm water soaking feet, foot odor should be timely application of antifungal creams such as clotrimazole, dacrynic acid, etc., to avoid scratching the skin due to scratching. (2) Patients with diabetic foot ulcers need to wear soft walking shoes, should not wear new shoes or harder leather shoes, so as not to squeeze. Diabetic foot patients wearing socks should wear more breathable thread socks or velvet socks, should not wear non-breathable nylon socks or thick acrylic socks. (3) Each time before trimming toenails must first soak feet with warm water for about 20 minutes to soften the toenails and then carefully use tools to trim. Do not trim the toenails too short during the trimming process to avoid damaging the nail bed and causing infection. You can’t trim your toenails too sharp and rough to avoid self-inflicted skin injuries. It is best to trim the toenail into a rounded shape and use a toenail file to trim the nail edge smooth. (4) For patients with foot ulcers, in addition to the above foot care, attention should also be paid to: when resting in bed, elevate the affected limb by 20-30 degrees to promote local blood flow back. The wound should be treated with 1~2 eggs, 50~100 grams of lean meat or fish and shrimp daily, especially fresh vegetables such as green vegetables, cucumber and celery to supplement vitamin C, because protein and vitamin C are indispensable for wound healing. go to the hospital in time, do not apply ointment at home to avoid generating infection. Wash the wound daily with hydrogen peroxide to prevent anaerobic infections, such as acute gangrene caused by Clostridium difficile infection.