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The Good Foot Guide
Category: Ankles and Feet
Jun 22, 2006
We're all watching Wayne's -- but spare a thought for your own feet too.
Jayne Dawson reports
The most attention the majority of us pay to our feet is to make sure our toenails are in order, but considering the work they have to do that really doesn't do them justice.
Our feet valiantly carry us five times around the earth or 100,000 miles in an average lifetime.
Despite this, they are often shoved into ill-fitting shoes for the sake of fashion and, if you're sporty, they're submitted to punishing stress and pounding.
It's a risky course of action because when feet let you down it can be disastrous, as England footballer Wayne Rooney has discovered.
His injury -- a broken metatarsal bone -- has jeopardised his chances of playing in the World Cup. A similar injury can affect anyone playing the game.
Podiatric Surgeon Michael O'Neill says: "Ignoring or neglecting your feet, which many people do, can be a high-risk strategy particularly if you play sport.
"Feet are a very fragile piece of engineering and should be treated as such. There are 26 bones and over 100 ligaments and muscles in each one and they can be easily damaged."
He points out also that even common injuries, such as blisters and torn ligaments, can trigger other problems in the body, from leg pain through to headaches, as the body becomes misaligned because of the foot injury.
"Sport places great demands on our feet and yet at this time of year people are inspired by major sporting events like the World Cup and Wimbledon and may literally jump into them without considering their feet or their footwear.
"Taking a few simple precautions like wearing the right shoes could mean they could avoid all those niggling problems and more serious ones that could put them out of the game."