Diabetic foot care
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Diabetic foot care clinic in ottawa
At Natural Skin & Sole Wellness Clinic, we know that diabetic foot care is an essential service because your feet are the foundation of your body! Your feet keep you active and independent. Just like your eyes and teeth, your feet also need a routine assessment and care.
With everything a diabetic person needs to manage, foot care can easily be forgotten! Foot care can be challenging for those with poor vision, decreased mobility, and loss of protective sensation. This can put individuals at risk of developing a foot ulcer. When left untreated, the ulcer can rapidly progress into an infected wound. Diabetic foot ulcers can quickly deteriorate, and result into lower limb amputation. Preventive care is essential to keeping your feet healthy.
Diabetic Foot Exam and Screening
Diabetes can increase the incidence of foot related problems because it can damage the nerves in your feet and cause poor blood circulation. Small cuts and sores can take longer to heal, putting you at risk of infection. With diabetes, taking care of your feet is an absolute must and an annual foot exam is a great way to learn and prevent most serious problems related to the diabetic foot. The diabetic foot exam with our Registered Nurses includes:
- General Assessment: we review your health history, and will ask you questions about your diabetes and foot health.
- Skin Assessment: we look for skin problems such as dryness, callouses, corns, blisters, fungus, ulcers, and heel cracks. We also look in between the toes.
- Toenail Assessment: we look for ingrown, involuted, thick and/ or fungal toenails.
- Neurologic Assessment: we perform a monofilament testing to evaluate your foot’s sensitivity to touch.
- Vascular Assessment: using our doppler ultrasound, we verify how the blood is flowing in your feet.
- Muscles and Bones: we look for any abnormalities or concerns with the shape, structure and strength of your feet.
- Footwear Exam: it’s important to look at your shoes as poorly fitted shoes can lead to ulcers and injuries. This includes indoor and outdoor footwear.
- You: most importantly, we ask how you are coping with managing your diabetes and foot health. Yes, you matter and our Nurses don’t just look at feet. They use a whole-person approach to health and well-being. Based on the foot screening exam, we work with you to build a comprehensive treatment plan to promote healthy lower limbs and prevent any foot complications.
Our Diabetic Foot care services
During your initial appointment, our Registered Foot Care Nurses will:
- Review your health history
- Provide a nursing lower limb assessment
- Evaluate your daily footwear
- Perform a diabetic foot exam and screening
- Provide full medical foot care treatments for toenails and skin (Medical Pedicure)
- Provide skin moisturizing demonstration
- Offer health teaching and hand-outs
- Send reports to your primary health care provider if required
- Depending on the assessment findings, our Foot Care Nurse will provide you with a customized plan of treatment
Professional routine appointments are recommended every 6-8 weeks to ensure that your feet are taken care of, and remain healthy. For prices and appointment details, please see below.
Nursing Diabetic Foot Care Treatments
Initial Consultation & Treatment
The initial diabetic medical pedicure appointment includes a detailed consultation and your first treatment:
- Complete medical history
- Comprehensive nursing assessment
- Discuss any foot health concerns
- Personalized plan of care
- Diabetic foot care
- Screening tests for the ‘diabetic foot’
- Medical pedicure service with nail and skin care
- Hot towel treatment
- Aftercare advices from our Nurses
*All new patients must book an initial consultation prior to any routine care. Medical Pedicures are for everyone!
60 Min – $110
Routine Diabetic Foot Care – 30 Min.
As a diabetic, lower limb and foot care is an essential part of your health and well-being. The Canadian Diabetes Association recommends regular foot assessment and care for all people with diabetes for the prevention and early detection of foot problems. Your appointment consists of a few steps:
- Screening tests for the ‘diabetic foot’
- Health assessments (ex: structural assessment, neurovascular testing, biomechanical assessment, footwear assessment, etc.)
- Medical Pedicure: toenail & skin care
- Skin moisturizing demonstration and application
- Offering health teaching and hand-outs
- Referral to other health team members as needed
30 Min – $80
Extended Diabetic Foot Care – 45 min.
The extended care appointment allows you to have more time with our Nurse. The appointment is recommended for patients who:
- Have been in before, but have not received routine foot care in over 4 months. Our Foot Care Nurse will go over your intake and address current/ new concerns.
- Require more time for their routine foot care from the Nurse.
- Wish to discuss about a new concern, or receive further assessment in addition to their routine medical foot care appointment (ex: new ingrown toenail pain, toenail injury, wound care, etc.)
45 Min – $95
Footwear & Orthotic Assessment
Diabetes can lead to complications such as neuropathy, poor circulation, and foot complications, making it crucial to prioritize foot health. Many foot-related injuries occur due to poorly fitted footwear, which can be prevented. We offer comprehensive footwear, gait analysis and orthotic assessments for diabetics which includes a thorough evaluation of the feet to identify areas at risk for pressure sores and other injuries. Our clinic offers a wide range of products for diabetics, including orthopedic footwear, orthotics and supportive devices.
With our team of experts, you will receive valuable guidance on the importance of wearing appropriate footwear with custom support and cushioning. To schedule your appointment for a footwear assessment or a custom orthotic assessment, please contact our office at 613-761-6060 We look forward to assisting you in maintaining optimal foot health.
Please note that this is a medical service and is hst exempt.
Coverage may be available with your private insurance company under Nursing Care OR Foot Care offered by a Nurse in Clinic OR Extended Health Spending Account. A receipt with the Nurse’s license # will be provided. This service can also be put towards your income taxes as a medical expense.
Our Nurses are Veterans Affairs providers: Direct billing with Medavie BlueCross is available for In-Clinic Nursing Foot Care.
Foot Care Instrument Reprocessing
Instrument care, sterilisation and reprocessing is an integral part of Nursing Lower Limb & Foot Care. To learn more about our reprocessing policies, please click the link below.