The Foot – A Natural Wonder

The foot is an anatomical wonder. With 26 bones, many joints, over 100 muscles and ligaments, tendons and connective tissues, it plays a major role.

The foot consists of toes, the metatarsus, tarsal and hindfoot. The feet contain nearly a quarter of the bones that make up the human body.

The foot's muscles have the task of executing the foot's movements; they are divided into the foot's short and long muscle groups. The short foot muscles are on the skeleton of the foot. The long foot muscles are on the lower leg. They transfer their power to the foot bones via tendons.

The arch of the foot is actively tightened by the foot's muscles and passively maintained by ligaments. The longitudinal and transverse arch of the foot - whose prime function is of great importance – are to be distinguished. Some foot diseases are due to a drop in the arch.

The sole of the foot can be divided into areas that are visible in a footprint in the sand: the heel, outer edge, longitudinal arch area, the balls of the foot and the toe pads at the base joints of the toes. The entire sole of the foot doesn't contact the ground: with a healthy foot, the area of the inner edge doesn't leave a mark.

The foot's soles play an important role. The effective control of movement is based on important information which includes soil texture, slope and temperature; this information is then transmitted by the nervous system's receptors to the brain. The receptors play an equally important role in both motor coordination and the balance system. In medicine, this self-perception is known as proprioception. It develops in early childhood and continues to be refined until the end of growth.