Grahams Natural Alternatives in ‘Australia first’ invents cream designed just for diabetic feet

A Nerang-based skincare product producer has come up with Australia’s first cream designed to treat a serious problem that can lead to amputation.

A NERANG-based skincare product producer says it has come up with Australia’s first cream specifically designed to treat “diabetic feet”.

Grahams Natural Alternatives, founded in 2000 by Geoff and Shannon Graham when they were looking for a cream to treat their son’s eczema, has launched Diabetic Foot Cream.

The product, which has been in development for two-and-a-half years, aims to treat problems people with Type 2 diabetes frequently experience with their feet.

They include an increased risk of foot ulcers, bunions, corns, calluses, fungal infections, dry skin and ingrown toenails.

Having Type 2 diabetes can also effect circulation through a reduced blood supply to the feet while in the worst cases diabetics are forced to have their feet amputated.

Geoff Graham, of Gold Coast-based skin care company Grahams Natural Alternatives, has developed a skin care cream specifically for people who suffer from diabetes. Picture: Jerad Williams

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Mr Graham said they started thinking about a product specifically for diabetics after his father was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes five years ago.

They started to look at what moisturising creams were on the market and found them with ingredients they say are harmful to diabetics such as sugar substitute glycerol and sugar alcohol sorbitol.

“We realised that a lot of the products on the market had ingredients that were not beneficial to diabetics,” Mr Graham said.

They engaged a chemist to come up with a new formula for their foot cream using alternative ingredients such as pomegranate, nettle leaf and red clover, which they say promote circulation and have antibacterial properties.

Diabetics suffer from a range of ailments affecting their feet such as foot ulcers, bunions, corns, calluses, fungal infections, dry skin and ingrown toenails. .

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“We think it will be a game changer because there’s nothing else like it on the market,” Mrs Shannon said.

“Diabetes is a serious problem in Australia and we believe this product can really help improve the quality of life for sufferers.”

The pair say they have already fielded interest from UK health and beauty retailer Bootes since launching the product a fortnight ago.

Mr Graham said the Diabetic Foot Cream has been approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration in Australia and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency in the UK.

It retails for $21.95.

Last year the company had its products stocked in 1000 Lloyds Pharmacy shops in the UK – a contract worth $2 million a year.