Amazing Foot Facts
Human feet are just as important as other parts of the body. These bring people to places, giving them easy mobility. The importance of having feet may be lost to many people, taking these body parts for granted. However, to those who have feet problems, who were born with no feet, or had those amputated because of ailment or trauma, the important of having feet is very high. Taken for granted or not, the feet are simply amazing – with a long list of trivia facts to back that up.
Human Foot Anatomy
- 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.
- The foot contains 26 bones, 33 joints, 107 ligaments, and 19 muscles.
- The foot is also comprised of an intricate network of nerves, muscles, and blood vessels.
- Achilles was the ancient Greek hero whose name is used for the largest and strongest tendon in the foot.
- The average person walks about 115,000 miles in a lifetime more than four times the circumference of the globe.
- Feet tend to expand as the day goes by so that these are slightly bigger in the evening than they are when waking up. This fact is the reason why it is best to buy shoes in the afternoon when the feet have already expanded. This will ensure that the fit will be good.
Foot Problems
- There are 300+ different foot ailments that could affect a person.
- Only a very small percentage of people are born with foot problems but millions are affected by foot problems at any given day. The reason for this is wear and tear as well as unhealthy habits and poor foot care.
- Women have about 90% of the 795,000 annual surgeries for bunions, hammertoes, neuromas, and bunionettes – the 4 most common problems linked to poorly designed and poor-fitting shoes.
- The feet are among the first indicators of disease. For instance, ailments like nerve and circulatory disorders as well as diabetes and arthritis tend to show the first symptoms at the feet. The feet may become numb or may be tingling. Thus, aches and anything unusual happening at the feet should not be taken lightly.
- Millions of people have smelly feet which are often presented after removing one’s shoes. The main reason for this is that the sweat glands are working on hyper drive and certain bacteria mix with the sweat to produce the foul smell.