Associated Podiatrists

                   2029 Bluegrass Circle, Suite 200              
                         Cheyenne, WY 82009              

                       Phone 307-778-7666    e-mail   Fax 307-632-4465                       

Meet Your Feet

1. There are 26 Bones in each foot. Together they make up one quarter of the total number of bones in the entire body.
2. There are 33 joints and 20 muscles that help move and make the foot flexible.
3. There are two arches in the foot. A transverse or metatarsal arch which runs across the ball of the foot. and the longitudinal arch, running from the heel to the ball of the foot, makes up the instep or arch. This bears most of the weight of the foot on standing. This arch also tends to flatten or extend as weight is applies.
4. You apply two times your body weight to each heel when it strikes the ground in a normal "site seeing" type of gait.
5. Flat footed means there is no longitudinal arch when the foot is not bearing any weight. Some people are considered to have flexible flat feet because when they stand on their feet the arch collapses and the arch appears flat.
6. Some people have a high arch foot call "Pes Cavus". This type of foot is not a common as the flat or "Pes Plannus" foot. Both types of extremes flat foot or high arch foot can lead to or cause problems.

7. Babies often appear to be flat footed. This is due to a fat pad that they are born with to help support the arch until such time as the bones in their feet are strong enough to support their body weight.