Foot Facts

Wondering what all the noise of the foot is all about? Here are just a few facts to consider :
– The human foot contains 26 bones, 33 joints, 107 ligaments, 19 muscles and multiple tendons that allow it to move.
– 1/4 of all your bones are down in your feet. When these bones are out of alignment, so is the rest of the body.
– While walking your body is subject to 1-1.5 times your body weight and while running these forces increase to 3-4 times your body weight. Your foot, being the first point of contact, is the first to absorb these shocks.
– During an average day of walking, the total forces on your feet can total hundreds of tons, equivalent to an average of a fully loaded cement truck.
– The soles of your feet contain more sweat glands and sensitive nerve-endings per square centimetre than any other part of your body.
– The ankle is one of the most load bearing joints of the body. Hence,it’s propensity to injury is no surprise. Once you have an ankle injury, your chances of re-injury increase 40-70%.
– Leg muscles are the most powerful muscle group in the body and the Achilles Tendon is the thickest and strongest tendon.
– The Achilles Tendon can be subject to 3-12 times a person’s body weight during a sprint or push off depending on several factors.
– The chances of finding discrepencies between the two feet is more common than thought. One foot could be larger than the other.
– 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.

– Standing in one spot is far more tiring than walking because the demands are being made on the same few muscles for a longer length of time.
– Women have been found to suffer 4 times more foot problems than men, often due to choice of footwear.
– We are bound to suffer from some foot pain or injury at some points in our lives.
Our feet are the pathway to our body’s structural health, balance and efficiency. Leave you to think what this means for the rest of your body.