Hi, I wondered if you could help me out please as I can't seem to get the answers by telephone from medical staff in my local area. My husband (aged 69) suffers diabetic neuropathy and has done for around 12 years now. He is on insulin and the diabetes is fairly well controlled. With the neuropathy he has intermittent Claudication too and suffers the usual pains in his feet and legs. He uses Opsite on the top of his feet for reducing the neuropathic pain which helps greatly. Just recently he broke (longways split) the 5th metatarsal bone in his foot (twisting it kicking ball with grandson - sigh) but wasn't aware of the break until two days later. X-ray confirmed it and a WEEK after that the doctor at fracture clinic said a plaster cast would have to be used.
I did explain to him about the neuropathy and the use of Opsite that keeps the pain at bay, but he wasn't aware that it could be used for this, said he would have to have the cast (which I understand) but now I'm concerned not only because the cast goes up to just beneath his knee and he often gets severe night cramp in his legs, but also because of the fact he won't be able to use the Opsite on that foot. I'm also concerned because having the diabetic neuropathy, he won't be able to feel if the plaster is rubbing or if anything else is wrong.
My question is, is it normal to use a cast on people with neuropathy and if so, how does one deal with issues of pain or something going wrong which the patient won't be aware of? I do hope you may be able to throw some light on this for me as I'm very worried at the outcome of this new problem. Thank you for taking the time to read my posting and thank you in advance for any help you may be able to give. |
