If there’s one thing we know here at our Redlands podiatry clinic, it’s feet – and we’ve picked up a lot of fascinating foot facts along the way!
These Feet are Made for Walking
Just think – if a person walks the recommended 10 000 steps per day from their first birthday up to the age of 70 – that adds up to over 25 million steps in their lifetime!
It’s estimated that the average person will walk over 128,000 km over the course of their life, which is the equivalent of three laps around the earth’s circumference.
Our early years are a time of incredible growth and development for our feet. For example, our toes start to form in the third or fourth month of gestation; and our feet double in length between birth and when we reach our fourth birthday!
I’ve previously written about how feet develop and when they stop growing, so today I thought I’d share a selection of both weird and wonderful foot facts.
10 Fascinating Foot Facts
1 – Bony Feet: Considering how small your feet are in comparison to your total body, you may be surprised to learn that fully a quarter of all the bones in your body are in your feet.
2 – A Feat of Engineering: Each foot has 26 bones, 33 joints, 107 ligaments and 19 muscles. No wonder Leonardo da Vinci described the foot as ‘the greatest engineering device in the world’!
3 – Built for Strength: The Achilles tendon is the strongest tendon in the body.
4 – Through Thick and Thin: One of the reasons your feet can go the distance, is because the thickest skin is found on the soles of your feet (and the palms of your hands).
5 – Ticklish Tootsies? It could be because there are 8,000 nerves in your feet.
6 – Don’t Sweat It: With 250 000 sweat glands in each foot, not surprisingly we can sweat up to a cup per day through our feet alone!
7 – Famous Feet: Is your second toe longer than your big toe? Don’t panic, you’re not alone – the Statue of Liberty is the same! This is known as Morton’s syndrome or Morton’s toe, and is also called Greek toe, because it is commonly seen in the statues of ancient Greece.
8 – Feet ‘Grow’ in Adulthood: It’s estimated that most people over the age of 40, gain half a shoe size every 10 years or so.
9 – Slipping into Sleep: Wearing socks to bed to keep your feet warm, makes it easier for you to fall asleep (or so says America’s national sleep foundation).
10 – Going Up! And finally, you’ve probably heard that human beings are getting taller with each generation; well, it seems feet are getting bigger too. America’s National Shoe Retailers Association says both men and women have gone up a full shoe size in the last 30 years.
When you consider their intricate design, many moving parts, and just how much we rely on them, no wonder things can – and do – go wrong with our feet, with one in 5 Australians suffering from foot pain.
Why Visit a Podiatry Clinic
Unfortunately many people simply don’t realise that a podiatry clinic like ours, exists solely (excuse the pun!) to help with problems affecting the feet and lower limbs and have never visited a podiatrist.
The most common foot complaint? Arch or heel pain, which affects nearly half of all Australians at some point in their lifetime.
Runners also make up a fair proportion of the clientele at any podiatry clinic, probably due to the following statistics about running injuries:
- 42% of running injuries are to the knee;
- 17% to the foot/ankle;
- and 13% to the lower leg.
So next time your tootsies are tender, remember: a podiatry clinic (like Trevor Lane Podiatry), is where you will find expert help for your foot care problems.