Question:
Looking for advice from someone who has some words of wisdom on leg ulcers. Both of my legs have ulcers on the shins. I have had these off but mostly on for the last two years on one leg and now on the other for maybe six months. I get them healed up and then the skin breaks down and they're back. Every time they come back they are worse. Diagnosis is "venous leg ulcers with stasis" brought on by complications of diabetes. I have compression stockings and a variety of prescription creams. I'm finding it very frustrating and painful. My blood sugars have been coming down steadily over the last year and are currently (5.0 to 8.0). HbA1c was around 11 a year ago and then 9 in June and I'm due for another in a couple of weeks. Help needed and wanted.

Answer: -You are right to be aggressive in dealing with these problems. I have not had to address the issue myself, but 20 years ago my mother ran smack into it. She was much older than you and worse, she had a terribly damaged liver. The liver alone severely bounded her possibilities, her chemistry being completely deranged which means healing was not in the cards. Thus, her experience is not terribly germane to you. But as a result of her difficulties, I stay alert to damage to the lower extremities. -Sorry to hear about your leg ulcers. I as well have had ulcers on my shins but they were diagnosed as Necrobiosis Lipoidic Diabeticorum (NLD). As far as I know, there is no concrete treatment for this disorder. In a white paper on diabetes from the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions dated 1998, they clearly state that no effective treatment is currently available for NLD. Of course, its been a couple years now and a new treatment may now be in existance, however, I haven't heard of any yet. Probably the best solution is tight glucose control in which it sounds like you're on the right track. As for me, when my ulcers were open and infected, I received excellent results with chelation therapy and a Vit. C drip.