Let's talk about feet

Today’s topic – the wonders of feet. That’s right, feet. I don’t know exactly why, but I find feet to be one of the more fascinating parts of human anatomy. They are an incredibly intricate and complex piece of the body, stand the heavy stress of bearing our full body weight every single day, take a lot of abuse by getting crammed into uncomfortable shoes, and are generally ignored. (Unless, of course, you’re talking about tickling – but more on that later.)

Here are a few of the more amazing facts about feet that I’ve come across:
-Human feet contain over a quarter of the bones found in the entire body – 26 bones per foot (or 28, depending on how you count).
-There are approximately 250,000 sweat glands in the average pair of feet – that’s enough to produce a pint of sweat every day.
-When you walk, you produce 2-3 times your body weight in pressure on your feet. When you exercise, the pressure gets even worse – they can cushion as much as a million pounds of pressure in 1 hour of strenuous activity!
-The average individual will walk over 115,000 miles over his lifetime – that’s enough to go around the world 4 times.
-The skin on the soles of your feet is 20 times thicker than the skin on the rest of your body.

Incredible, isn’t it? These amazing pieces of anatomy at the ends of our legs just keep on working, day in and day out, bearing enormous pressures, step after step. But do you want to know the thing that I find the most intriguing of all? For all the strength and resiliency of our feet, they are also one of the most sensitive areas on our bodies for being tickled. I know some people who can’t stand anyone else touching their feet, because it tickles too much. They can stand on them for hours, walk thousands of steps, balance on one or the other, and clothe them in socks, shoes and slippers of various materials, and yet a delicate touch by human fingers is unacceptable.

Personally, I find it fascinating how this part of our anatomy is put through such rigorous and grueling use – and yet is still sensitive enough to reduce us to helpless giggles.