Among the more significant side effects of diabetes are diabetic leg ulcers, open leg sores that may afflict the feet or legs, once or recurrently, and break down the skin's protective barrier so that infection may more easily enter the body to cause disease and further tissue damage at the site of the ulcer. These ulcers often occur with advanced diabetes because the diabetic patient does not feel the damage occurring to the skin, where neuropathy has affected pain receptors in the legs and feet.
There are other health concerns that can cause leg ulcers including trauma, impetigo, tuberculosis, and cellulitis. However, diabetic leg ulcers are the most common. These result from blocked arteries and as a secondary effect of the neuropathy (nerve damage) that often comes with an uncontrolled diabetic condition. The atherosclerosis that blocks leg arteries causes arterial insufficiency, a lack of circulation to the area where ulcers subsequently occur.
Of course, a proper diabetes diet and blood sugar control are essential to preventing leg ulcers. For any existing, open ulcers, cleaning and dressing the wound is essential. You may want to consider coating the wound with honey as a natural antibiotic to supplement your immune system's own efforts to prevent infection. Supplemental zinc and vitamin C will speed up the healing process. As one more option, phototherapy offers a promising alternative medicine treatment for diabetic leg ulcers.(1)
References:
1http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19588536
