There are many reasons why our feet are awesome, but some of the pressures they endure and how intricate they are contributes to making them super-strong supports for our entire body! Here is a collection of ten of our favourite foot facts that we’d like to share with you all.
1. Your feet sweat up to half a pint of sweat in a single day
This is due to the 250,000 sweat glands in your feet, which can result in smelly feet. There are ways to work around this, such as washing them daily with soap and water (ensuring you dry them thoroughly), removing hard skin from the soles of your feet, changing socks every day, and avoiding nylon socks.
2. Nearly a quarter of all bones in our bodies are in our feet
With 26 bones, 33 joints, 19 muscles, 10 tendons, and 107 ligaments in each foot, they’re intricate pieces of work! This is why it’s so important to look after them as they have a lot of delicate moving parts.
3. Feet are one of the most ticklish parts of our body for a reason!
You can thank the 8,000 nerve endings in the soles of your feet for this! But don’t worry, having ticklish feet can be a good sign; reduced sensitivity could be a symptom of neuropathy which is a medical condition often (but not always) linked to diabetes.
4. Feet can reflect your general health
Abnormalities, pain, growths, and other feet issues can represent systems of other diseases. There are many different indicators in feet that can suggest something more serious, even such as the loss of hair on your feet (which may indicate peripheral arterial disease).
5. The average person walks 110,000 miles in their lifetime
That’s the equivalent of walking from Glasgow to London 860 times over!
6. When running, your feet take up to five times your body weight
Footwear is incredibly important when exercising. You must make sure you wear comfortable shoes that are shock absorbent, especially when jogging and running. We recommend that you buy your shoes in person so you can try them on to ensure a comfortable fit. If your shoes hurt when you first put them on, chances are they are not the right pair for you.
7. The first shoe dates to 3,500BC
Found in an Armenian cave, this old leather shoe somewhat resembles a modern shoe. Perhaps we should have come further in the past 5,500 years?
8. The Achilles heel is the strongest tendon in the body
Also known as the calcaneal tendon, this fibrous connective tissue extends approximately 15cm from our calf down to our heel.
9. Over the course of a day, your feet take a cumulative force equivalent of 639 metric tons in a person who weigh approximately 90kg
It all adds up, you have to give your feet credit for being able to withstand such immense pressure throughout the day (thank them and treat them every now and then)!
10. Only 2 in 10 people consider their foot health regularly
We’ve always felt that not enough people pay attention to their foot health, which we believe should be just as important as dental health. If you’re conscious about something that doesn’t feel right, it’s better to get them checked out before it’s too late.
We hope you have learned a thing or two within this blog! It is always interesting to learn about all the amazing facts about our feet, and especially understanding how much strain they go through just so we can walk!
We’ve taken extra precautions to ensure that we can carry out the highest quality podiatry treatments throughout this Summer. You can book an appointment with us by clicking here.
