Natural Remedies for the Diabetic Foot

Natural remedies for the diabetic foot may be able to help you lessen nerve pain and heal cuts or minor injuries faster. Never ignore injuries to your foot if you are diabetic – they can rapidly become serious infections ending in amputations or even death. You must see your doctor and get proper medical attention.

Diabetic Foot Pain

However, in the meantime, there are natural supplements and treatments that might help you deal with diabetic foot problems. For instance, many people with poorly controlled diabetes develop what is called peripheral neuropathy or nerve-based pain in the feet. This can include numbness and tingling as well as severe pain. This is a diabetic complication from the bad effects of high blood sugar levels for a long period of time.

The first thing that you want to do is get in better control of your blood sugar. Work with your doctor with your treatment plan to get the diet and medication plan optimized. However, to protect the nerves in your feet from further damage and to lessen the pain, you could consider adding natural remedies such as alpha-lipoic acid and curcumin. Both of these antioxidants have been shown to reduce nerve damage and pain in diabetes.

You would want to get the best-absorbed and utilized forms of these remedies. Thus, for alpha-lipoic acid, look for the R-form and make sure it has been stabilized. For curcumin, there are enhanced forms that will say on the label that they have been shown clinically to have better absorption from the gut.

Sometimes you can find a cheaper form of a nutritional supplement, but it turns out that it is not made well and will not even get out of your gastrointestinal tract into your bloodstream – or from there into your cells that need it. So, be thoughtful in your selection of supplements. Try to understand if a specific product is worth the extra cost because of benefits like proven better absorption.

Healing Faster

Another two natural remedies to consider for diabetic feet are zinc and some external ointments made from calendula or tea tree oil. Zinc is an essential mineral that supports healthy healing of injuries, cuts, and other wounds in the body. People with diabetes tend to deplete it from their system with the high blood sugar levels. Therefore, taking a good multivitamin-multimineral supplement with at least the recommended daily amount of zinc in it is important.

If you get a minor cut or scrape on the foot, check with your doctor first, by all means. If he or she would not suggest any particular treatment, then check out what ointments or gels containing calendula, lemongrass oil and tea tree oil might be able to do. These have proven effects on preventing bacteria from growing or killing certain bacteria. Calendula is so gentle it was studied in babies with diaper rash and found to be helpful with that common skin problem.

The diabetic foot is a danger zone – treat it carefully.