Body Scrubs for Diabetic Patients

Recently we treated a 78 year old Diabetic lady who just underwent a surgery on the foot. She has been suffering from Diabetes and Neuropathy since more than four decades now.

A typical sign of diabetes patients is that their skin starts showing black spots and patches. Especially for those suffering from Neuropathy (a condition where feelings are numbed in the feet), it is difficult to keep the feet clean and maintain healthy skin. The skin needs to be kept moisturized regularly and dry, black skin needs to be exfoliated and removed regularly.

My daughter and I used our whole gamut of treatments- Body Scrubs, Body Wraps, a few Reflexology techniques, Reiki as well as massage techniques to help maintain the health of her feet. (Of course, this was done with the permission of the doctor).

The doctor visited her every alternate day for dressing her wound and had suggested scrubbing the feet (exempting the wound area) to rid her of dry skin and the danger of more infection. I must say that we saw great results with our home-made body scrub. After just the first session, the doctor exclaimed about the change in the look of the feet. They looked cleaner, whiter and healthy. Another one or two sessions and all the dry and dead skin would be completely gone.

The patient felt very good and positive on seeing such a drastic change. It gave her positivity and faith during her healing process. The scrub was warm in property and gave a soothing warm sensation to the aching and healing feet. It was a relaxing and luxurious, first-time experience for her.

I am specially sharing this experience because there is a common belief that body scrubs are only for beauty and are an unnecessary luxury. But in most cases, it helps in moisturizing the skin, keeping it healthy, removing dead skin, thereby giving a nice soft glow and helps in healing. The herbs used in the scrub help detoxify the body, increase blood circulation, in many cases help in pain relief and most importantly, make a person feel good and positive. Positive state of mind is very important for giving hope, will power and strength to a patient to cope with the long and tedious task of healing after a surgery.

As an additional remedy for any dark pigmentation on the skin, we added an application of honey and lemon after the treatment, to keep the skin moisturized and to help bleach it.

Anyone suffering from dry, dead skin and also dark patches on the skin, should give scrubs and wraps a try. Most people feel the difference from the first session itself. However, a word of caution – make sure you get the treatment from a trained therapist who knows about different kinds of skin conditions and how to treat them. Also, in cases of a diabetic patient or someone who recently has undergone surgery, one must have the permission of a medical practitioner.

Pinakin Shah

Body-Mind Therapist, Owner and Trainer at Pristine Senses Academy, 

Massage Trainer, Reflexologist and Reiki Practitioner.