WHY FOOT CARE MATTERS FOR WOMEN MANAGING DIABETES LONG-TERM?

For most people managing diabetes, the daily routine revolves around glucose readings, medication timing and meal planning. Foot care rarely makes the list until a small crack in dry skin turns into something far more serious. Yet diabetes-related foot disease remains one of the leading causes of hospitalisation and lower-limb amputation linked to diabetes worldwide and much of it is preventable with a habit as simple as five minutes a day. 

How Diabetes Affects Your Feet

Diabetic foot complications don’t appear overnight. They build slowly, through two connected processes, one being nerve damage also known as neuropathy and the other poor circulation. 

Neuropathy is when prolonged high blood glucose can damage the nerves in the feet over time. This results in poor or dull sensation, so cuts, blisters or pressure sores can go unnoticed and it interferes with the nerve signals that trigger sweating. Without normal sweat function, the skin on the feet becomes dry and prone to cracking. 

Diabetes can narrow and stiffen the blood vessels supplying the feet resulting in poor circulation, making it more difficult for the body to fight off infection and heal minor wounds. 

Put those two things together and a small crack in dry skin, something most people would barely notice can quietly develop into an infection before it’s ever felt. 

Why Foot Care Matters More Than People Realise

Foot complications are not a minor footnote in diabetes management. Diabetes-related foot disease is recognised as the leading cause of diabetes-linked amputation, hospitalisation and reduced quality of life globally. In South Africa, research shows a meaningful gap between what people know about foot care and what they actually practise day to day and studies among African diabetic patients have found foot self-care practices sit at under 50% on average. 

The reassuring side of this is that with consistent daily care, routine self-checks and proper skin care, most of these complications can be delayed or prevented entirely. This is not about fear, it is about closing a very fixable gap. 

Why We’re Talking About This For Women’s Month

It would be easy to claim that women face higher biological risk of diabetic foot complications than men, but the research does not actually support that. The real connection is behavioural, not biological. Foot care is one of the easiest health habits to skip, it takes time, it’s easy to forget and it competes with everything else on a daily to-do list. For many South African women managing diabetes while also carrying the load of a household, children or ageing parents, self-care habits like this are often the first thing to get deprioritised, not because it does not matter, but because there’s rarely time left over at the end of the day. 

This Women’s Month, the message isn’t “women are more at risk”. It is simpler than that: you deserve five minutes of the care you give everyone else. 

A Simple Daily Foot Care Routine

1. Check your feet daily – Look for redness, cuts, blisters, swelling or changes in colour or temperature. 

2. Wash and dry thoroughly – Especially between the toes, to prevent moisture-related infections. 

3. Moisturise daily – Counter the dryness caused by neuropathy, but avoid applying cream directly between the toes, where excess moisture can encourage fungal infections. 

4. Never go barefoot – Even indoors, since reduced sensation makes it easy to miss small injuries. 

5. Check your shoes – Before putting them on, for small stones, seams or rough patches that could cause pressure sores. 

6. See a healthcare provider promptly for any cut, blister or sore that does not start healing within a day or two. 

Where Allpresan Diabetic Foam Fits In 

Moisturising is one of the simplest steps in this routine and one of the most important, given how directly neuropathy-related dryness contributes to cracked, infection-prone skin. Allpresan Diabetic Foam is formulated specifically for the needs of diabetic skin, designed to support the skin barrier and keep feet in better condition as part of a daily routine, without disrupting the balance needed in sensitive, at-risk skin. 

It won’t replace regular foot checks or professional care, but it makes the daily habit that supports both a little easier to keep. 

Diabetic foot complications are common, serious and largely preventable. The biggest risk factor is not gender, it’s time. This Women’s Month, we’re encouraging every woman managing diabetes long-term to treat foot care as non-negotiable as glucose monitoring itself: a small, consistent habit that protects years of mobility and independence down the line. 

Explore the Allpresan Diabetic Foam range and other diabetes management tools. 

*Sources: PMC / South African Family Practice, International Working Group on the Diabetic Foot, Frontiers in Endocrinology, PubMed and SA Diabetes Association – general clinical sources.