A Warning to Diabetics: Amputations are on the Rise

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Twofold increase. Threefold increase. These are the words that accompany stories of recent diabetic limb amputations. Doctors across the globe are reporting double and even triple the number of amputations in 2020 as they had in 2019. What’s behind this dramatic increase? - The COVID-19 pandemic. Diabetic patients are waiting too long to seek medical care for dangerous foot infections.  

We understand that some patients have been reluctant to leave the safety of their homes and enter a doctor’s office. You may have missed your regular appointments, which is often when our podiatrists catch problems before they develop into something serious. 

But when a person with diabetes delays treatment for a foot wound that isn’t healing, here’s what can happen -- and is happening -- more and more during the COVID crisis:

  • the tissue slowly deteriorates

  • the wound advances to a serious infection

  • the patient has no choice but to go to the hospital emergency room

  • doctors deem healing impossible

  • amputation becomes the only option

That’s a scary scenario. It’s also one that you can avoid by acting promptly when you have a lower limb wound. Carefully monitor any reddened skin, ingrown toenails, cracks in the skin of your feet, or obvious ulcers. And don’t wait until it’s so bad that you have to go to the hospital.

When a wound isn’t getting better, make an appointment for urgent care with the board-certified podiatrists at Affiliated Foot & Ankle Center in Monmouth County, New Jersey. Also, if you’ve missed your annual appointment for a diabetic foot check, come see us now. Dr. Samantha Boyd, Dr. Hal Ornstein, Dr. Dan Phan, and Dr. Joseph Saka are making it as safe as possible for you to visit our offices. Both our Howell and Jackson locations are open with strict COVID protocols in place. You may contact us online or call us at (732) 905-1110. Doing so could save your lower limb from needless amputation.