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Foot Facts (3)
At Superior Foot & Ankle Care Center we want our Los Angeles County patients to appreciate their feet. All too often it’s easy to take our feet for granted–until they start to hurt or stop functioning the way they should to enable us to live our active and busy lives. We’d like to call your attention to some amazing facts about your feet that you may not know.
- It takes a lot to build a good foot! Together your feet have 52 bones (which is about 25% of the total bones in your body), 66 joints, 38 muscles, 20 tendons, and 214 ligaments.
- Your feet contain approximately 8,000 nerves–more per square centimeter than any other part of your body. Anybody feeling ticklish?
- The Achilles tendon is the longest and strongest tendon in your body. It’s also the most injury-prone.
- It’s no wonder feet tend to get sweaty. They contain 250,000 sweat glands which can pump out about half a pint of perspiration every day.
- With every step you walk, each of your feet absorbs one and half times your body weight. When you run, your body is hit with the force of up to five times your body weight. Over just one day feet are hit with a couple of tons of pressure.
- Want to go for a walk? On average, a person logs 115,000 miles in a lifetime–this is about the distance of about 5 trips around the earth.
- To grow out a toenail completely takes 12-18 months.
- Women suffer from foot and ankle problems four times more often than men do. This is usually linked to the shoes they wear.
- It’s common for people to have one foot that’s bigger than the other. You should always buy shoes to fit the larger foot.
- All babies have flat feet. The arch of the foot does not develop until the age of 3.
Now that you know more about your feet and how truly wonderful they are, take steps to ensure they stay healthy all your life. Making healthy lifestyle choices, wearing quality shoes that fit properly, and contacting our Long Beach office at (562) 420-9800 office for an appointment as soon as you notice any pain or concerning symptoms in your feet and ankles are all good ways to be proactive in the health of your feet. Our podiatrists, Dr. Victoria M. Foley and Dr. Constance Ornelas, will track down the source of your discomfort promptly and prescribe the correct treatment to get you back on track.
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It’s the time of year for fright fests, haunted houses and all kinds of scary attractions, but at Superior Foot & Ankle Care Center we believe the podiatrist’s office shouldn’t be one of them! Many times, patients may get a diagnosis that sounds scary. In most cases, however, the name of a disorder may sound more frightening than it is. The job of our podiatrists, Dr. Victoria Foley and Dr. Constance Omelas is to make sure you understand a diagnosis and the treatment recommended for it. Your job as a patient is to ask questions until you feel confident that you comprehend your condition and treatment plan. Below are a few foot problems that illustrate our point.
Xerosis: while this may sound like a condition common to an ancient Greek god, it’s actually a term to describe very dry skin. Dry air, showering too frequently with very hot water or the soap you are using may all be the underlying cause. In some cases, dry skin can be a symptom of a systemic disorder. Usually, however, applying a super-rich moisturizer to your feet several times a day will eliminate xerosis.
Ganglions: you may be a little frightened when you start to experience numbness, tingling and pain in your feet for no apparent reason. Oftentimes, however, these symptoms are caused by small fluid-filled sacs that occur in the tendons or joints on the top of the feet or ankles. Repetitive stress to tendon linings and joints and shoes that constrict your feet are frequently the reason behind ganglions.
Brachymetatarsia: no, it’s not a pre-historic dinosaur. This term describes a defect in the growth of a toe bone that results in one of the metatarsals being shorter than the rest of the toe bones. It will commonly be seen in both feet. In some cases, this condition will not cause pain or discomfort, but it can affect balance so careful shoe selection will be necessary. For other patients, surgical remediation may be necessary.
Don’t hesitate seeking evaluation of foot or ankle symptoms. Putting off treatment is when foot conditions can truly become scary. Contact our Long Beach office today for an appointment by calling: (562) 420-9800.
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We tend to take our feet for granted. Every day we get up out of bed, put on shoes and go on about our day—standing, walking, running, maybe even hiking, dancing and playing a sport. At Superior Foot & Ankle Care Center we thought it might be fun to take a look at some facts about your feet:
- Each of your feet contains 26 bones (that is nearly a quarter of all the bones in your body!), 33 joints and over 107 ligaments and 19 muscles and tendons.
- Your feet have more nerves per square centimeter than any other part of your body—over 8,000 in total.
- The average person walks about 115,000 miles over the course of their life—that’s equal to circling the earth four times.
- Women typically walk 3 miles more a day than men.
- Your feet have approximately 250,000 sweat glands which produce up to ½ pint of perspiration each day.
- Most people have one foot that is larger than the other.
- About 75% of Americans will experience foot problems at some point in their lives and women have foot pain four times more often than men.
- 9 out of 10 people are wearing shoes that are too small for their feet.
- Over 50% of American women have bunions—a toe deformity where the big toe drifts over to the second toe, forcing the joint out of place and creating a bump on the outside of the big toe.
- Foot size on average has increased two sizes since the 1970’s. The reason behind this is thought to be that feet are getting larger in order to support extra pounds as the average weight of people also continues to climb.
- It takes 5-6 months to grow a completely new toenail. Toenails grow faster in warm weather, during teenage years and pregnancy.
Now that you know just how incredible your feet are, our podiatrists, Dr. Victoria Foley and Dr. Constance Omelas, want to encourage you to be proactive in the care of them. If you experience any pain or discomfort, don’t delay. Contact our Long Beach office promptly for evaluation and treatment by calling: (562) 420-9800.
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