9. Patient and caregiver teaching

• Daily foot and skin inspection, including the use of a mirror or a caregiver for areas the patient cannot see, with return demonstration.
• Protective footwear, never going barefoot, and checking shoes for foreign objects before wearing.
• Burn prevention — testing water temperature with a thermometer or an area with intact sensation, and avoiding heating pads on insensate skin.
• Why a painless wound is dangerous in an insensate foot and the need to report any new lesion immediately.
• Fall-prevention strategies where proprioception is reduced, including lighting and assistive-device use (cross-reference Safety).
• When to call the agency versus when to activate EMS (e.g. sudden numbness with weakness, saddle anesthesia with bladder change).