Hi! I'm Your Foot

Hi, I’m your foot!, I am often ignored till problems occur or you have found a fabulous pair of shoes for me. Unfortunately, many times those fabulous shoes are part of the problem.  Most people don’t know that 25% (that’s ¼) of all the bones in the body are in your foot, Me! I contain 26 bones in total( plus 2 sesamoid bone imbedded in the tendons), combine that with 33 joints, 107 ligaments and 19 muscles and I am an architectural masterpiece. Leonardo daVinci called me a "masterpiece of engineering and a work of art.” Only a small percentage of people are born with any foot problems. So why do 3 out of 4 Americans have serious foot problems in there lifetime?  It is neglect and lack of awareness to proper care and use, often times improperly fitted shoes, which bring on problems. Women tend to have 4 times more problems. High heels cause the body to lean forward leading to many back aches and the shortening of the calf muscles over time can result in knocking the spine out of alignment.  I do a magnificent job in balancing you body, there are message flung back and forth between me, the spinal cord, proprioceptors and the brain to constantly re-adjust to keep you standing tall.  Just wait till you start walking; now I go through a series of complex actions to propel you along. I take the initial shock in my heel and allow my foot to be loose and flexible to absorb the shock.  As you take a step, your weight shifts forward. I stiffen up so you have a nice firm surface which to propel off of and then the big toe sends you off with a great push. If any thing happens to disturb this balance of motion, the rest of your body is sure to feel it, especially your knees and low back.

It is important to take good care of me. First, good shoes are a must.  I enjoy walking bare foot on uneven surfaces though I generally prefer a good shoe on hard surfaces. Exercising me is one of the best things you can do if you don’t want to spend your golden years sitting on your bottom.  By creating movements that make me move in all planes of motion you contribute to improved circulation, and my ability to do my job.  If I loose motion in any direction, I will start to compensate. I stop doing my job as I should and that makes other parts of the body have to take on task they normally wouldn’t.  Often time this results in pain somewhere else in your body.

Remember to take care of me and wear good shoes. (More on this soon!) I’m glad we had this chat; I look forward to a great working relationship with you in the future!