As a podiatrist I see many foot wounds. Many of them due to an accident or an injury but most often due to a lack of pain. It is hard to think of pain as a gift but in the case of the neuropathic foot it is. When walking our brain receives thousands of messages that report back how the body is doing. From the skin the brain gets the message that all is well unless there is a painful buildup of callus. If the pain is great enough our brain would tell us to sit down, remove the callus or seek help. Unfortunately, with neuropathy the brain is not getting the signal that something is wrong. Therefore, the walker continues to walk even though the skin is building more and more callus. Eventually, the skin is so thick that it begins to break down and deeper tissues begin to form an ulcer. This will lead to a neuropathic ulcer all because the walker did not realize he should be feeling pain! So I, like most podiatrists, would like to remind you that foot pain is not normal and if you are experiencing foot pain you should seek help. On the other hand if you do not have the gift of feeling foot pain, you should visually inspect your feet daily and contact a professional immediately if there is anything out of the ordinary…
