Seven Things You Never Knew About Feet

Leonardo da Vinci, the great painter and engineer, described them as "a masterpiece of engineering and a work of art", and though you might not give yours much thought, feet are truly amazing.

Learn what makes shopping tiring, how kangaroos bounce, and how your feet can make your head ache. In short, explore the things that make feet so great, and that you'd never thought to ask but will be interested in finding out anyway.

The muscles that control your feet are in your calves

There are a few tiny muscles in the feet, but the powerful ones which operate the feet while we are walking and running are located mainly in the fleshy bulk at the back of the calves – with some in the front, too. The one just beneath the skin in the back of the calf (called gastrocnemius) has two fleshy "bellies" on either side of the calf.  These can often be seen in cyclists or other people with well-toned legs. It is the same muscle which powers a frog’s leap!

High heels do not cause foot deformity

The important word here is the word "cause" – high heels certainly are not good for your feet and undoubtedly worsen deformities, but they do not actually cause them. 

In terms of deformities bad shoes can worsen, we’re mainly talking about a bunions, which are bony lumps that can develop on the side of the big toe, which is squeezed and rubbed by shoes. This is often accompanied by a bending of the big toe towards the other toes, and it is often turned round too, so that it faces the other foot. 

But the contribution shoes make to worsening this foot deformity is borne out by the fact that in shoe-wearing populations, women develop them more commonly than men, but in children and unshod races there is no gender difference in the rate at which bunions occur.

The primary cause of bunions is actually the way you walk, or your ‘biomechanics’.  This may be the reason that there does seem to be a strong family link – not that you inherit bunions, but you inherit your biomechanics, or the way your feet function, from your predecessors.

Bunions can only be "cured" by having surgery to remove the bony deformities. To stop them forming again you need exercises and to wear special insoles (‘orthoses’) in your shoes to improve your foot function.

Babies have no instep or arch to their feet

Well at least they appear not to have one. If you look at a baby’s foot it will appear very solid with no hollowing out underneath, in the area of the instep, as most adults’ feet do. The reason is that a baby’s instep area is filled with fat.  As the baby develops, it gradually loses fat from all over the body including the instep, so that older children can be seen to have an arch or instep.

More Surprising Foot Facts

Flat feet do not hamper walking, running or sporting performance

At one time men were barred from active service in the military if they had feet with a very low arch or instep – known as "flat feet".  At the time it was believed that this was an abnormality which affected the normal performance of the feet.  

There are races of people for whom a low arch is more common than a higher one.

The myth may have arisen because there are some conditions which lead to a dramatic dropping of the arch, resulting in a flat foot.  These conditions can result from trauma, over-use injuries or other foot problems and are very likely to affect proper functioning of the foot.

Walking is very energy-efficient

Walking has been described as "controlled falling over" and makes use of the power of gravity. Also, once walking is initiated, energy is generated which is stored in soft tissues such as the powerful Achilles tendon (which runs from the back of the heel, and into the calf muscles).  This is like storing energy in a coiled spring. The stored energy is then released at later stages in the gait (walking) cycle. 

Kangaroos have very strong Achilles tendons, and when they switch from walking on all four limbs to hopping, their oxygen consumption goes down, indicating that they are then using the energy stored in their tendons.

Foot problems can cause knee, hip, back pain and even headache

As the old song goes – the knee bone is connected to the thigh bone, the thigh bone’s connected to the hip bone etc.  In other words, problems with the feet are reflected up the skeleton, causing pain elsewhere. 

A good example of this is knee pain.  The large weight-bearing bone in the shin (the tibia) forms both part of the ankle joint and part of the knee joint.  As foot position changes during walking, this bone rotates inwards and outwards with the bones in the foot, causing the knee join to also rotate.  

Because the upper part of the knee joint is formed by the thigh bone (femur) which is half the hip joint, these rotational forces can also be transferred to the hip joint, causing pain there. 

As we walk, the upper body rotates and because of the interconnections between the parts of the body, if walking patterns are abnormal there can also be excessive rotation in the back, leading to pain in the area. This can be translated up to the broad kite-shaped muscle (trapezius) which spreads over the shoulders and sweeps up the back of the neck. Tension and spasm (sustained contraction) in this muscle because of excessive movements can cause tension headaches in extreme cases, something we bet you didn't know. You're now wondering if your headaches could be caused by your feet, right?

If you are at all concerned about your feet or gait, consult a qualified podiatrist – these are healthcare professionals who specialize in foot and gait problems.

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