Hello and welcome
@Dean Curwood
I'm sorry to hear you've been diagnosed with Charcot foot. It is thankfully quite a rare complication but it has to be carefully managed to try and limit the damage that can occur.
Have you lost total sensation and feeling in your feet from neuropathy or do you still have some feeling present in your feet, eg being able to tell where your feet are in relation to the floor or sensing pain if you get any cuts or blisters? Presumably you had debridement for an infected ulcer or some other foot infection - I hope that is mending.
Has your foot changed shape or have you been diagnosed in time to try and prevent bone collapse? Hopefully you're in a boot to try and limit any potential damage and your foot is still intact. It is a long waiting game with Charcot for things to settle and patience is the best approach. I was diagnosed 26 years back and had never heard of Charcot foot, sadly nor had the Doctor I saw in A&E who sent me away with a sprain diagnosis. 26 years later I'm still in a cast with the choice of a below knee amputation or to try and maintain my collapsed foot and ankle in a cast.
In terms of treatment I've needed crutches to walk for the past 26 years and had boots, casts, some non weight bearing, some partial weight bearing, skin grafts on ulcers that developed due to pressure on the wrong parts of my feet after bone collapse, my toes surgically fused back in to their sockets after they all dislocated, 3 ankle fusions to try and attach my foot to my leg after my ankle joint collapsed. Sadly none of the unions worked properly as my bone chemistry isn't good after 43 years of diabetes and I didn't grow enough new bone to hold everything in the right position.
It is a long haul but the treatment depends on what has happened to your foot structure and which areas are damaged or most likely to be damaged. At the least you should be seen regularly by a high risk diabetes podiatry team who check your feet for any problems and for you to maintain/try to get the best control of your diabetes, blood pressure, cholesterol and all the other stuff we need to juggle.
If your foot remains intact then hopefully with time you can get a custom made pair of shoes or insoles that offload the pressure from areas vulnerable to break down and ulcers. Charcot foot is a high risk foot problem and you need to be super vigilant ongoing for any changes you notice and seek help asap.
This information is from the Diabetes UK site about Charcot foot
When you have diabetes and peripheral neuropathy (nerve damage), you’re more at risk of developing Charcot foot. Charcot foot is one of the serious foot complications you should be aware of. It can be difficult to deal with, but having treatment as early as possible can reduce your risk of...
www.diabetes.org.uk
I hope things settle down for you and that you have been diagnosed in good time before things get permanently damaged. Best wishes.
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