Most people take their feet for granted. They rarely think about them until something is wrong with this or that foot. When something is wrong with your feet, you typically see a podiatrist to discuss the problem, but you might see your regular doctor first and then follow up with a referral to podiatrists. Either way, someone is going to look at your feet and determine what is going on. Here is what podiatrists know about your feet, what it tells them about you, and how their knowledge might fascinate you. 

Your Feet Are Well-Designed Shock Absorbers

Every time your feet hit the ground, the force of your own body weight hitting something hard creates intense shock waves. You barely feel it because your feet are cleverly designed shock absorbers. The strike of the foot on the ground creates a distribution of force across the pads of your foot and up your leg to your hips and back. That strike of each foot fall ends in your back, but the majority of the force is absorbed in the feet.

If your feet are not functioning the way they should because of injury, trauma, or flat feet/fallen arches, you will suddenly begin to feel each strike of the foot, and the pain will be almost insufferable. When you describe the pain to the podiatrist and he or she looks at your feet, the doctor will know what to look for based on this anatomical feature and physiology of the human foot. 

A Reflex on the Bottom of Your Foot Can Indicate Disease or Development Issues

The plantar reflex is the proper response to running a pen or finger along the plantar tendon in the bottom of the foot. In healthy, fully developed adults, the reflex instantly causes your foot to curl down and almost point your toes. If there is disease present in the bottom of your foot, testing this reflex results in another response, known as the Babinski reflex.

In this case, the toes suddenly curl up and the foot tries to arch backward. It is also a good indicator of someone with physical delays in development. Your podiatrist will want to see how your foot reacts to test for any unseen and serious health conditions of the foot. It will feel very ticklish in a healthy foot but tingle with mild to moderate pain in an unhealthy foot. 

Visit a site like https://www.familyfootcenter.net/ to learn more.