Healthbeautyidea.com – How many bones are in the foot? This question must at least pop up in your mind once, right? It is interesting to find out about the most bottom part of our body. And, even though it is small, we know that its bone structure is more complex, similar to our hand.
So, here, we are going to find more about the foot bones and many other interesting things about the foot.
How Many Bones are in the Foot?
Our feet have 26 bones in total. We can divide them into three categories, which are the phalanges, tarsal, and metatarsal bone. The phalanges bones consist of 14 small bones that form a specific formation.
It is also the same with tarsal and metatarsal. As for the tarsal bone, it consists of 7 bones. Then, you also can find 5 bones in the metatarsal category. Now, let’s see more detail about each category.
Phalanges
We also can call it Phalanx bone. You can find this bone in your foot toes. Each of the toes has three phalange bones, except the Hallux or great toe that only has two bones. Now, if we count the bones on these five toes, we can get 14 bones.
Each of the phalange bones on each toe consists of three parts. The tip of your toes is called the distal phalanges. Then, the middle one is called the middle phalanges. As for the end, which is also the longest of three, is called the proximal phalanges.
Thanks to this beautiful design of phalanges, we can walk comfortably. Compared to other mammals, including human closest relatives, the ape, our phalanges design is the most perfect one for standing on two feet. And, that makes us, humans, different from other animals.
Metatarsal
Where is the metatarsal located? The metatarsal is the five bones that connect the phalanges or toe bones with the tarsal bones in the sole area of your foot. It has a long and upward arch shape. When this bone moves, it will also move the toe bones.
Metatarsal bones are considered one of the most surprising things that people who don’t know about anatomy foot ever found. In general, people thought that this part of bones have one solid bone. Therefore, when they found out about these five long bones, most of them didn’t believe that it could support human weight.
But, there are also joints, muscle, and other parts of the foot that make it work perfectly well. Because of this design as well, we have more flexibility in moving around on our feet. Therefore, you can walk, run, jump and land easily on your feet.
As we mentioned, there are five metatarsal bones. Each of them has a name. We call them, starting from the big toe phalanges, first, second, third, fourth, and fifth metatarsal bones. The first metatarsal bone is the strongest, shortest, and thickest of five. It connects the tarsal with the big toe phalanges.
Tarsal
How many bones are in the foot up until this point? We have 14 phalanges and five metatarsals. So, it has 19 bones so far.
Next, we have the tarsal area bone. This bone is located in the ankle and sole of your foot. It has a rounded shape, built by 7 bones with a unique shape. We categorize them into three types of bones, which are the talus, calcaneus, and tarsal.
The talus bone consists of one bone that connects the tibia and fibula bone of your leg. Because of this function, you can find it on the top part of the whole tarsal formation. Therefore, we also call it the ankle bone.
As for the calcaneus bone, you can find it on the bottom part of the tarsal formation. This bone is also the biggest of seven bones in this area. This size and density are necessary because it functions as the supporter of your body weight.
Then, we also can find the tarsal bones. It consists of five small bones that create the curved shape of your midfoot area. Each of these five bones also has the name, which are:
- Medial bone,
- Intermediate bone,
- Lateral cuneiforms bone,
- Cuboid bone,
- Navicular bone.
One of the unique things about tarsal bone is the form it created with the metatarsal bone. The combination of these two creates an arch shape, which is a perfect shape for the weight transfer effect. It also supports the bipedal movement of humans.
The Other Part of Your Foot
Other than bones, you also need to know about the muscle and joint that also is the part of the foot. To support the 26 bones that we explained before, your foot also has 30 joints that connect each of those bones. Then, it is also covered with more than 100 muscles that move your bones and connect them to the leg bone.
Foot Bone Problems
Your foot bones also could suffer some health problems, such as:
- Big toe arthritis – a condition that attacks your big toe joint,
- Bunion – a bump that occurs on the inside area of your foot. Mostly, it occurred at the base of the big toe bone area,
- Hammertoes – your toe bone bend downward to create a claw-shaped toe,
- Heel spurs – it occurs in the heel area that makes you feel uncomfortable. But, in most cases, it doesn’t affect your everyday activity,
- Sesamoiditis – is an inflammatory condition in the big toe bones,
- Stress fracture – the fracture can happen to your foot bones because of pressure from the outside. It mostly occurs when bones receive that pressure continuously for a long time.
Read also:
How To Prevent Bunions From Getting Worse
Conclusion
As you can see, the foot is not a simple part of your body. It has complex and many parts that work together, creating a comfortable movement for you. Now, you know how many bones are in the foot. We hope this information becomes a useful reference that helps you to keep your foot health.
How Many Bones are in the Foot? Watch the explanation in the following video
