Most of us go through each day without ever thinking about our feet. It’s only when something goes wrong that we tend to realize just how important our feet really are.
“Our feet are usually covered with shoes and socks, and they’re easy to forget about, or we might take them for granted,” says Dr. David G. Armstrong, a foot doctor (podiatrist) and professor of surgery at the University of Southern California. “But we shouldn’t ignore them. Foot problems can really limit activity and make it hard to move through the world.”
Your feet are surprisingly complex. Each foot has 26 bones, 33 joints, and a network of nerves and blood vessels. Your feet also have more than 100 muscles and connectors, called tendons and ligaments.
“All of these work together to give your whole body stability and balance as you move around every day,” says Dr. Stephanie C. Wu, a podiatrist at Rosalind Franklin University in Chicago. “Our lowly feet have big responsibilities.”
You can help your hard-working feet stay at their best. Start by being alert to foot pain or other problems that might need a doctor’s care.
Source: NIH News in Health, March 2023 [https://newsinhealth.nih.gov/2023/03/focus-your-feet]
