WHILE winning an award for her work is a huge triumph for Lesley Tanner - it is the satisfaction she gets from helping people avoid major health issues that really makes her job so important to her.

Having been runner up in 2015, Lesley recently discovered she had scooped the title itself of Foot Health Practitioner of the Year in 2017.

And it is merely the icing on the cake for a lady who is hugely passionate about what she does.

Lesley is taking the occasion of her award, for which she was nominated by her patients in the Tendring area, win as an opportunity to once again shine the light on the important issue of taking care of your feet - not least if you are someone who has diabetes.

"Foot health become even more important when you have diabetes.

"Ignoring changes in your feet, especially sores that won't heal can be a big mistake and can lead to amputation in extreme cases.

"I have seen it happen and it is so preventable in many cases," says Lesley.

Having been a Slimming World consultant in Colchester for 17 years Lesley re-trained as a foot health specialist nine years ago.

"I guess I have gone from a job which helps people to try and stay healthy to another one that does a similar thing and I really, really love it.

"I enjoyed being a consultant but I got to the point where I needed a new challenge but actually the two are linked because a lot of people who are obese are developing type 2 diabetes.

"Diabetic patients make up a lot of my patient base," she admits.

Gazette: Winner - Lesley Tanner with her award

Lesley explains Diabetes has doubled in the past 20 years with 3.7 million people diagnosed in the UK.

"It is costing the NHS about £9 billion a year. Foot health checks to diabetic patients is paramount to their wellbeing."

Ignoring changes in your feet can be a big mistake, whether on the skin, nails or even how they feel - could be the first sign of a potentially serious problem, that if caught early could save your life.

"Our feet are the first parts to be affected by nerve tissue being the farthest away from the heart, being easily compromised when are bodies feel threatened, as blood is sent to the internal organs and the brain before the extremities.

"Diabetic patients must be very aware of any changes in their feet, especially any sores that won’t heal.

"If they have neuropathy it is likely they won’t feel any knock or scrape inflicted , then if that gets infected worst case scenario is amputation, which of course with awareness and education along with regular visits from a foot health practitioner could be prevented," says Lesley.

And she says it is never too early to start looking after your feet.

"It is a good habit to get into because we have regular checks on our teeth and general health, we should also be paying attention to our feet."

She explains the colour and heat of them are important as they could indicate circulation problems and even things like verrucas can sometimes be an indication of more serious things.

"Verrucas are the HPV virus so it is an immune system issue.

"You should not be digging those out, a professional needs to do it.

"In fact there was a young girl on a health programme not to long back who kept getting them and even when they were removed they grew back straight away and it turned out it was because she had no immune system of any kind to fight them off and it was actually an indication she had leukaemia.

"I know this is extreme but it shows how important taking notice of our feet can be," adds Lesley who as well as having a clinic often goes out into the community to visit clients."