10 facts about feet that will surprise you
Even though our feet faithfully carry us through life, they often go unnoticed. Little do we realise just how much we owe them – bearing our body’s weight and ensuring our upright posture – our feet are true superheroes! In observance of the International Day of Podiatry, marked every October 8th, let us explore the hidden secrets of our feet with the guidance of experts.
Feet enable our mobility, but we often overlook their vital role in our overall health. They serve as a crucial body part, signalling symptoms of emerging diseases and monitoring environmental parameters. What other remarkable capabilities does our unassuming locomotive organ possess?
- Feet can withstand forces akin to a cement truck
During a typical day’s walk, our feet endure hundreds of tonnes of force, equivalent to a fully-loaded cement truck.
- Running can increase pressure on feet by up to fivefold
Hence, it is crucial to ensure that our athletic footwear is a perfect match for our size. Achieving precision in measurement is recommended, whether through advanced technologies like the esize.me scanner or by mastering the technique at home: https://ccc.eu/pl/jak-dobrac-rozmiar-butow.
- Thanks to our feet, on average, we cover a distance equivalent to circling the globe up to four times in our lifetime
The average person takes around 8,000-10,000 steps every day, which equals approximately 115,000 miles over a lifetime.
- The foot... holds the truth!
The state of your feet can reveal valuable insights about your overall health. Foot abnormalities often serve as an early indicator of other health conditions, including diabetes, heart disease, peripheral neuropathy, melanoma, or arthritis.
- One-fourth of the body’s bones are in our feet
Approximately 25% of all human bones can be found right there in this unassuming part of our anatomy.
- Feet are constantly ‘talking’ to our brain
The foot is packed with nerve endings that communicate detailed information to the brain about all internal and external factors from pressure to temperature. This information helps your brain coordinate your movements and react to the world around you. The foot serves as the primary sensory organ of the proprioceptive system, responsible for gathering and processing information from the body and the environment before transmitting it to the brain.
- Feet are the most densely packed with nerve receptors and... the most ticklish
There are about 8,000 nerves in the feet. This is more nerve endings per square centimetre than anywhere else in your body.
- Feet need time to grow, too
The bones in the foot do not completely ossify (harden) until around the age of eighteen.
- Feet alone can produce up to 0.5 litre of sweat per day
Our feet have approximately 250,000 sweat glands, enabling them to produce as much as half a litre of sweat daily, which plays a crucial role in regulating our body temperature.
- One in five of us has ‘Greek foot’
Approximately 20% of the population has a foot condition known as Morton's toe or Greek foot, characterised by the second toe being longer than the big toe. Interestingly, prior to the 19th century, this condition was regarded as a symbol of noble birth or intelligence, which explains its prevalence in sculptures and paintings.
Taking care of your feet is just as important as taking care of any other part of your body. Proper footwear and daily foot care are essential. For expert guidance and tips on measuring your feet, visit: https://ccc.eu/pl/jak-dobrac-rozmiar-butow.
This material was developed by the CCC Group in collaboration with the Polish Podiatry and Podology Association and podiatry specialists Piotr Bielawski, Joanna Kustra, Adriana Miniatorska-Węgrzyn, and Anna Słowik.
