Foot Anatomy 101: 12 Things You Need to Know

For fun and funny facts, read on…

The human foot is a very curious thing! It’s a highly complex structure, with many little bones, nerves, and joints to keep you standing, walking, running, and balancing. It’s one of the most complicated structures in the human body, and one of the easiest to injure!

For a basic into to foot anatomy 101, here are a few interesting facts about the foot you need to know:

1. You take anywhere between 4,000 and 6,000 steps per day. Of course, people who spend more time sitting at a desk will walk as few as 2,000 steps per day, and those that work on their feet may take closer to 8,000 steps per day. In your lifetime, you will walk a distance that could circle the world five times.
2. Women tend to have four times more foot and foot-related back problems than men. The culprit: high-heeled shoes!
3. Anywhere between 75 and 80% of the human adult population suffers from some sort of foot problem. It may be a problem with the bones or joints, the arch of the foot, incorrect pronation, skin infections, or toenail problems.
4. Each foot has 26 bones, meaning together, your feet contain 25% of the bones in your entire body. Most of those 52 bones are small and delicate, and are fairly easily injured. Hence, it’s important that you take care of your feet!
5. It is highly unlikely that your two feet will ever be the same. One of your feet is almost guaranteed to be larger than the other. It’s rare to find two feet that are exactly identical.
6. Your foot did most of its growing in the first year or two of your life. They grew from your tiny baby feet to about half the size of your adult foot. By the time you are 12 years old, your foot will be about 90% of the size it will be when you are an adult.

READ MORE: Why Are My Feet Swollen?

7. When you walk, you lift the heel of your back foot off the ground and move your body forward. For a split second, half of your body weight is resting entirely on the toes of that back foot. That’s a lot of weight for such small things!
8. There aren’t just 26 bones in each human foot, but there are also 33 joints and more than 100 separate connective tissues–ligaments, tendons, and muscles.
9. 1 or 2 out of every 1,000 children is born with an extra toe or finger, a condition called polydactylism. It was believed that Marilyn Monroe had an extra toe, and actress Halle Berry has more than the usual number.
10. In the U.S., more women’s shoes are sold in size 8.5 than in any other size. For men’s shoes, the best-selling size is 10.5. This is a full size larger than the shoes sold most 30 years ago, meaning the human foot size is increasing.
11. Your feet will let you know how your overall health is. A number of conditions will show up first in the feet–including diabetes, nerve problems, arthritis, circulatory conditions, etc.–so monitoring your foot health can help you keep an eye on your overall wellbeing.
12. Sprained ankles are the #1 sports injury in the world. The inside of the ankle is more stable than the outside, making the ankle far more likely to turn inward when you fall, land after a jump, or are tackled. The outer ligament (lateral) is the most likely to be injured in sports.