Diabetes Footwear: Tips for Buying Shoes

Shopping for Shoes When You Have Diabetes

You won't likely see an orthopedic pump on the Paris runways, but shoe companies are making progress in footwear design that respects the concerns of people with diabetes (PWDs). Here's how to find shoes that feel good on your feet.

Who Needs Special Shoes?
Do you need so-called diabetic shoes? You may not if your blood sugars are controlled and you have no history of foot wounds or decreased sensation.

Medical shoes may be unnecessary, but all people need footwear that fits. "Well-fitting doesn't just mean you wear a certain size, but that your shoes are not too loose or too tight anywhere on your foot. That helps prevent you from forming blisters and calluses, and protects you from trauma outside of the shoe," says Joy Pape, R.N., CDE, WOCN, CFCN, founder of EnJOY Life! Health Consulting.

People who have uncontrolled blood glucose levels or a history of foot complications, such as ulcers, may need therapeutic shoes.

"For high-risk patients, protective shoes and insoles are a mainstay of preventing foot ulcers," says Lawrence Lavery, D.P.M., M.P.H., foot researcher and professor of surgery at Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine in Round Rock, Texas. "These patients need to use the type of protective shoes prescribed by their podiatrist."