5 Foot Facts That Will Amaze You

Many folks tend to take their feet for granted until a foot or ankle problem develops. While your feet are amazing examples of nature’s engineering, they are still susceptible to a variety of injuries and diseases, many of which can be minimized or prevented with proper foot and ankle care.

Here are 5 amazing foot facts that will hopefully inspire you to take better care of your feet!

1. During the average lifetime, you can put enough miles on your feet to walk around the earth five times! In fact, the average active and healthy person covers nearly five miles each and every day.
2. Of all the bones in your body, nearly one fourth of them are located in your feet and ankles. In fact, you have 26 bones in each foot, 33 joints, and over 100 tendons, ligaments, and muscles.
3. The largest feet on the planet are possessed by a man in Venezuela named Orlando Hernandez. His feet measure an astonishing 16 inches in length, which is a size 26 in the United States.
4. A variety of systemic illnesses first exhibit signs in the feet and ankles. For example, foot numbness and tingling is often an early sign of diabetes. Experiencing stiffness in the ankle and big toe joints is often a sign of arthritis or gout.
5. In warm environments, your hair and toenails grow faster, and the warmth and humidity make you more susceptible to getting fungal toenail or bacterial infections.

You can take better care of your feet by having regular visits with your foot doctor to catch problems early before they worsen and require more aggressive treatment.

The foot experts at Desert Podiatric Medical Specialists, in the Tucson, Oro Valley, and Green Valley areas of Pima County Arizona, have unparalleled experience in treating all aspects of foot and ankle care. Our team of doctors, including Christopher M. Funk, D.P.M., FACFAS, Bradley A. Whitaker, D.P.M., FACFAS, and Peter C. Merrill, D.P.M., AACFAS, is dedicated to serving you with state-of-the-art, cutting edge medical technologies including the PinPointe FootLaser, custom-fitted orthotics, and Radial Pulse Therapy (RPT) for chronic foot, heel, or ankle pain. If you have any questions or would like to make an appointment, please call (520) 575-0800.