Cellulitis and diabetes: what to know

Cellulitis is a deeper bacterial infection of the skin and tissues beneath it. Diabetes can reduce sensation in the feet, make a small crack or blister harder to notice, and affect the body's ability to repair damaged skin. High glucose can also make infection management more difficult. Check the skin between the toes, around nails, and on the feet for breaks, warmth, redness, swelling, or tenderness. Athlete's foot can create an entry point for bacteria.

Arrange same-day medical advice for a new, spreading, warm, painful, or swollen area. A clinician may inspect the skin, look for an ulcer or abscess, and prescribe antibiotics when cellulitis is diagnosed. Take treatment exactly as directed and keep any wound clean and covered as advised. Continue your diabetes plan, check glucose more often if your clinician has recommended this during illness, and avoid squeezing, shaving, or applying unprescribed creams to the area.

Seek emergency care for confusion, faintness, severe weakness, breathing difficulty, rapidly worsening redness, severe pain, or a very unwell feeling. Fever or chills with a skin infection also needs urgent assessment because a serious bloodstream infection can develop. Do not wait for loss of sensation to improve before arranging help.

Ask whether the infection involves a foot wound, whether glucose monitoring needs adjustment, how to protect the affected skin, and when the area should be checked again.