Foot Facts

• The 52 bones in your feet make up one quarter of all the bones in your body. When they are out of alignment, so is the rest of your body.

• The soles of your feet contain more sweat glands and sensory nerve endings per square centimeter than any other part of the body.

• About 60% of all foot & ankle injuries aged 17 or older are ankle strains or sprains.

• Most people have 26 bones in each foot, but some people have 28. These extras, called supernumerary sesamoids, are found on the bottom of the foot just behind the big toe.

• Fourteen of the 26 bones are found in the toes. Each toe has three bones, except the big toe, which has two.

• Flat feet are not always problematic – if flat feet are well-aligned, they enable a person to stand for longer periods of time, as the weight is distributed over a larger area.

• The gait pattern of your right foot does not usually match that of your left.

• When you are walking normally, the whole foot is never flat on the ground.

• Standing in one spot is far more tiring than walking. The reason for this is that demands are being made on the same few muscles for a length of time.

• Corns and calluses are never normal, but they are the most common foot problems. They indicate that you could benefit from foot alignment or from better choice of shoes. The next most common foot problems are warts, blisters, athlete’s foot and fissures.

• The skin on your feet is thicker than it is anywhere else on your body.
• 3 out of 4 Americans experience serious foot problems in their lifetime.

• The foot contains 26 bones, 33 joints, 107 ligaments and 19 muscles.

• 1/4 of all the bones in the human body are down in your feet. When these bones are out of alignment, so is the rest of the body.

• It’s neglect and a lack of awareness of proper care – including ill fitting shoes – that bring on problems.

• Women have about four times as many foot problems as men. High heels are partly to blame.

• Walking is the best exercise for your feet. It also contributes to your general health by improving circulation, contributing to weight control, and promoting all-around well being.

• Your feet mirror your general health. Conditions such as arthritis, diabetes, nerve and circulatory disorders can show their initial symptoms in the feet – so foot ailments can be your first sign of more serious medical problems.

• There are 250,000 sweat glands in a pair of feet. Sweat glands in the feet excrete as much as a half-pint of moisture a day.

• Walking barefoot can cause plantar warts. The virus enters through a cut.

• There are currently more websites on the Internet having to do with foot fetishes than with foot health.

• The average person takes 10,000 steps per day. That’s equal to 115,000 miles in a lifetime, enough to circle the world four times.

• The foot accounts for 25% of the bones in the human body.

• The average woman walks three miles more per day than the average male.

• There are roughly 250,000 sweat glands on a pair of feet.

• The pressure on the feet when running can be as much as four times the runners’ body weight.

• The first shoes were invented 5,000,000 years ago during the Ice Age and were made from animal skins.

• 9 out of 10 women wear shoes that are too small for them.

• Fingernails and toenails grow faster during hot weather, pregnancy and teenage years.

• The ancient Romans were the first to construct distinct left and right shoes. Before that, shoes could be worn on either foot.

• The average foot gets two sizes longer when a person stands up.

• Shoe sizes were devised in England by King Edward II who declared in 1324 that the diameter of one barely corn- a third of an inch- would represent one full shoe size. That’s still true today.

• The feet can contract an array of nasty diseases from communal showers: Planter Wart, Athletes foot, Ring worm!

Sources: foot.com, health24.com (http://www.health24.com/medical/Condition_centres/777-792-2215-2330,31024.asp), http://www.profootcenter.com/25-fun-foot-facts