Foot Inspection Teaching

Foot inspection is a risk assessment, not a cosmetic check. It asks whether the patient can protect the tissue, whether the skin is intact, and whether a finding suggests infection, impaired circulation, or a foot problem requiring specialist care. Chronic hyperglycemia can injure peripheral nerves and reduce protective sensation. A patient may therefore continue walking on pressure, friction, or a thermal injury without the pain that would normally prompt a behavior change. A painless break in the skin is not a minor finding; it may be the visible end of an injury that has been progressing unnoticed. Every adult with diabetes should have a foot inspection at least annually. A patient with neuropathy, peripheral arterial disease, or a previous ulcer is at higher risk and should have the feet inspected at every clinical visit. The inspection frequency changes because the patient's ability to detect and recover from injury has changed.