¾ of people experience serious foot problems in their lifetime.
The foot contains 26 bones, 33 joints, 107 ligaments and 19 muscles.
¼ 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.
Only a small percentage of the population is born with foot problems.
It’s neglect and a lack of awareness of proper care – including poor 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 500ml of moisture a day.
Walking barefoot can cause plantar warts.
The two feet may be different sizes. Buy shoes for the larger one.
About 5% of Australians have toenail problems in a given year.
The average person takes 8,000 to 10,000 steps a day, which adds up to about 185,000 kilometers over a lifetime. That’s enough to go around the circumference of the earth four times.
There are currently more websites on the Internet having to do with foot fetishes than with foot health.
The average child will take its first steps around 13-17 months – but between 10 and 18 months falls within the “normal” range.
During the first year of a child’s life their feet grow rapidly, reaching almost half their adult size. By 12, a child’s foot is about 90 per cent of its adult length.
When walking, each time your heel lifts off the ground it forces the toes to carry one half of your body weight.
The first foot coverings were probably animal skins, which Stone Age peoples in northern Europe and Asia tied around their ankles in cold weather.
Cigarette smoking is the biggest cause of Peripheral Vascular Disease (disease of the arteries of the feet and legs) that often leads to pain on walking, ulceration, infection and in the most severe cases – gangrene and possible amputation.
Around 40 per cent of Australians will experience some form of foot problems in their lifetime.
Foot disorders in the elderly are extremely common and are the cause of much pain and disability, and consequent loss of mobility and independence.
Children’s feet are mostly cartilage when they are born and the bones will keep growing and developing throughout childhood and adolescence.
Children’s feet grow rapidly in childhood, often changing sizes in months.
Children’s feet will reach almost half their adult foot size by the age of 18 months.
Up to one third of children aged between 4 and 6 years of age suffer from ‘growing pains’ in the feet and legs.
An estimated 10-20 per cent of children have flat feet (flat feet in children are not necessarily a problem but if they are causing pain, affecting mobility or interfering with activities, they should be investigated.
By the time we reach 50 we have lost up to half the shock absorbing capacity of the natural foot pad.
Our feet absorb 1.5 to 2 times our body weight during normal walking and up to 4 times our body weight when jogging.