How to Spot Early Signs of Infection in Diabetic Foot Ulcers (and What To Do Next)

When you receive a diabetes diagnosis, that one simple word doesn’t encompass the wide range of complications that are related to the chronic disease. From vision loss to foot ulcers, diabetes can affect you from head to toe.

In more detail, diabetic foot ulcers alone affect about 1.6 million Americans annually and half of these lower limb wounds will become infected. Playing this out even further, 20% of infected diabetic foot ulcers end in amputation, an outcome we want to avoid.

Key to that goal is recognizing the early signs of infection. To help, Dr. Thomas Rambacher and the experienced team at Foot Ankle Leg Wound Care Orange County pulled together early warning signs of an infected foot, ankle, or leg wound and what your next steps should include.

Infection red flags

About half of people with a diabetic foot ulcer also have peripheral artery disease (PAD), a condition that can compromise blood flow to your lower legs. As a result of this sluggish circulation, any wound in your lower limb may not get the resources it needs to heal quickly — quickly enough to avoid infection.

If a foot ulcer is slow to heal, this gives bacteria time to invade the opening in your skin, where it can lead to a growing infection that can reach your bone and lead to gangrene.

While the best way to deal with an infection is to prevent it in the first place, the second-best method is to recognize the infection in its early stages.

So, when you have a diabetic foot ulcer, be on high alert for any of the following:

Redness around the wound

If the edges of your diabetic ulcer look red, this is a sign of brewing infection.

Increased pain

A healing wound can be painful, but the pain should gradually subside. If there’s an infection, this will go in the opposite direction and your wound will get more painful and tender.

Fever and chills

If you develop a fever and chills, these are signs that your immune system is waging a battle against bacteria.

Swollen lymph nodes

Lymph nodes are part of your immune system and they can swell if your body is fighting infection. So, if lymph nodes in your armpits, neck, or groin feel swollen, this could signal a bacterial infection.

Fatigue

If you feel sluggish and lack energy, this might be due to the fact that your body is fighting an infection.

Your next steps

If you have a diabetic foot ulcer and you’ve developed some of the signs of infection we outline above, your next and most important step is to come see us straight away. 

The earlier Dr. Rambacher can address the infection, the better your outcome. Treating a minor infection as opposed to one that’s spreading and reaching your bone is dramatically different. In the early stages, we have a considerable number of tools at our disposal to get your diabetic foot ulcer going in the right direction.

To schedule an appointment for critical diabetic foot care, we invite you to call our office in Mission Viejo, California, at 949-832-6018 or request an appointment online today.