Our feet help us balance, and carry us the equivalent of five times around the earth in an average lifetime. In return, we rarely give them the attention they deserve, hiding them away in shoes and forgetting about them until they rebel.

     Along with our eyes and hands, your feet do more work than most parts of our body, so it's little wonder that things sometimes go wrong. Our feet are also mirrors of our general health. Signs of diabetes, arthritis, circulatory and neurological diseases, often appear first in the feet.

     Foot problems tend to fall into three categories-inherited, illness and ill-fitting shoes. Foot structure leading to bunions, ingrown nails, hammertoes and heel pain can be inherited. Diseases, such as diabetes and arthritis can produce many different complications in the feet. One of the leading causes of foot problems is shoes. The highest culprit is high heels. This is why more women develop foot problems. Another reason is not wearing the right shoes for the right activity. This pertains to work and athletic activities. Improper footwear on the job not only causes painful problems for the worker, but contributes to thousands of hours of downtime-which translates into the loss of millions of dollars-in industry each year. Most of us are more fitness conscious these days. We jog, do aerobics, dance etc. Yet although we might feel healthier as a result, playing sport can have a distinct unhealthy effect on our feet. When we run, our body weight is multiplied up to three times, with our feet bearing the brunt of this stress at every stride (over 1,000 strides per mile, per foot). An average weight man will process 12 tons of weight through each limb per mile.

     Whether you are a professional athlete or an occasional walker, the demands made on your feet and lower limbs can lead to a range of injuries including, blisters, sprained ankles, torn ligaments, shin splints, knee pain, low back pain, heel pain, arch pain and other joint and muscle problems. The key to healthy feet is prevention or early detection. If you suffer form foot problems, get them treated by a foot specialist before permanent damage occurs.

Fortunately, most foot problems can be prevented. Just follow the gold rule: Be good to your feet…. And they'll be good to you.

Did you know?
The human foot is a highly specialized structure containing 26 relatively small bones, more than 150 ligaments and an intricate network of muscles, nerves, and blood vessels.

• The average person engaging in non-strenuous activity walks approximately 4 miles every day.
  There are approximately 250,000 sweat glands in each pair of feet that release nearly a cup of moisture each day.
  More than 70% of the population will have painful foot problem during their lifetime.

 - Foot Pain Is Not Normal - 

Greg Lawrence B.Sc.,D.Ch. Foot Specialist/Chiropodist
(905) 828-1145 #11-2318 Dunwin Dr., Mississauga