🐝 This is education, not medical advice — and we show our work. Every fact below links to its source (NIDDK or IWGDF). For anything about your feet, confirm with your clinician.

Diabetic Foot Care, Sourced: What to Do Every Day (and What Never to Do)

Last reviewed 2026-06-20 · Sources: U.S. NIDDK (NIH) and the IWGDF 2023 guidelines · Written by the LocalDiabetic team, who build this from lived experience with type 1 diabetes.

If you have diabetes, your feet need a daily habit — because nerve damage can hide an injury until it becomes serious. Here is the routine, with every claim cited so you can verify it yourself.

Check your feet every single day

Look at the tops, bottoms, sides, heels, and between the toes every day. Use a mirror or ask someone for help if you cannot see the bottoms.

What you are looking for: cuts, sores, red spots, swelling, blisters, ingrown toenails, corns, calluses, plantar warts, athlete's foot, and unusually warm spots.

Source: NIDDK — Diabetes & Foot Problems

Why daily — the neuropathy reason

Diabetic nerve damage (neuropathy) can cause tingling, pain, or loss of feeling. When you cannot feel your feet, you may not notice a pebble, a blister, or a cut — and an undetected injury can get infected and, with reduced blood flow, heal slowly.

Source: NIDDK — Diabetes & Foot Problems

Wash and moisturize — the right way

Wash with soap in warm, not hot water (about 90–95°F). Test it with a thermometer or your elbow — neuropathy can hide a burn. Don't soak (it dries skin). Dry well, including between the toes.

Then apply a thin coat of lotion or petroleum jelly to the tops and bottoms — but never between the toes, where moisture invites infection.

Source: NIDDK — Diabetes & Foot Problems

What to NEVER do

Never cut corns or calluses, and never use corn plasters or liquid removers — they damage skin and risk infection. Never walk barefoot or in socks alone. Never use heating pads, hot water bottles, or put feet near heaters — you may not feel a burn.

Source: NIDDK — Diabetes & Foot Problems

When to call your clinician

Tell your health care provider if any of these show up — they are reasons to get checked, not a diagnosis:

• A cut, sore, blister, or bruise that doesn't start healing after a few days.
• Skin that is red, warm, or painful (possible infection).
• A callus with dried blood inside it (can be an early sign of a wound underneath).

Source: NIDDK — Diabetes & Foot Problems

Get your feet examined on a schedule

Ask your care team to check your feet at every visit (take off shoes and socks to remind them), and get a thorough exam — including feeling and pulse checks — at least once a year. Get it at every visit if you have foot-shape changes, loss of feeling, peripheral artery disease, or a history of ulcers or amputation. International guidelines add that structured foot self-care education should repeat roughly every 1–3 months for people at high risk, and every 3–6 months at moderate risk.

Sources: NIDDK · IWGDF 2023