DID YOU KNOW…
Foot facts:
The feet contain approximately 250,000 sweat glands that excrete as much as half a pint of moisture every day.
Walking puts up to 1.5 times your bodyweight on your foot.
In China during the early 10th century, foot binding was seen as a sign of beauty and was practiced by all social classes. Foot binding was a tradition in which the toes were tightly wrapped in cloth breaking the bones and curling the foot under. After a number of years performing this ritual from about the age of 5 onwards, the front and back of the foot would be forced together to give the impression of small dainty feet. Prospective mothers in law would inspect a girl's feet to see whether she was suitable for marriage to her son.
It is estimated by scientists and historians that the first shoes were created during the ice age 5000,000 years ago and were made from animal skins.
As shock absorbers, feet cushion up to one million pounds of pressure during one hour of strenuous exercise.
The skin on bottom (plantar surface) of your feet is thicker than it is anywhere else on your body. It is the first defense against repetitive foot problems.
During a typical day, the feet endure a cumulative force of several hundred tons.
The average person walks about 10,000 steps a day (up to 1,000 miles/year). During a lifetime it is thought that a person has walked enough steps top have traveled around the planet more than 4 times, which is approximately 115,000 miles!
The largest feet in the world belong to a Mr Matthew McGrory who lives in America whose feet are a whopping size 28½ (US size). The 7ft4in resident of Florida, USA has to fork out a massive $22,745 for a pair of shoes to fit his unusually large feet.
25% of bones in the human body are located in the feet, which are made up from 52 bones.
It is important that women wear correctly fitting footwear as on average they walk 3 miles further every day than the opposite sex.
The record for the most feet sniffed belongs to a Madeline Albrecht, Cincinatti, Ohio, USA. So far, throughout her career working for a research company testing footcare products for Scholl, Madeline has sniffed approximately 5,600 feet.
More than 70% of all people in the United States will have painful foot problems at some time during their lifetime.
More than 11 million visits were made to physicians' offices in 2003 because of foot, toe and ankle problems, including more than 2 million visits for ankle sprains and strains and more than 800,000 visits for ankle fractures (Source: National Center for Health Statistics; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 2003 National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey.)
A foot massage will bring direct relief to tired feet!
Facts from:
American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons
Foot Health Care
Foot Care Direct
Foot.com
Quiz I
Use these numbers to answer the following questions about parts of the foot - 5, 20, 26, 33, 100
- How many of the body's 206 bones are located in each foot?
- How many joints hold these bones together?
- How many muscles are used to move the bones of each foot?
- How many ligaments join these bones?
- (This one's easy...) How many nails protect the toes of each foot?
Quiz II
Some famous people down through the ages have made memorable statements about feet or have otherwise influenced the way we think about feet and shoes. Can you identify the person connected with the following?
- Which Greek philosopher said, "When our feet hurt, we hurt all over"?
- Plato
- Socrates
- Aristotle
- Which Renaissance artist called the foot "a masterpiece of engineering and a work of art"?
- Leonardo da Vinci
- Raphael
- Michelangelo
- What hero of ancient Greece gave his name to the largest and strongest tendon in the foot?
- Ulysses
- Jason
- Achilles
Answers to Quiz I:
1) 26, 2) 33, 3) 20, 4) 100, 5) 5
Answers to Quiz II:
1) B, 2) A, 3) C
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