Foot Facts

The average person will walk 128,000kms in a lifetime, the equivalent to three times around the world.
Our feet are a very complex structure and contain 52 bones, plus numerous accessory bones, which account for a quarter of all the bones in the body.
Foot pain can be a sign of systemic disease. 20% of rheumatoid arthritis cases and 35% of stress fractures occur in the feet.
There are over 200 identified foot conditions.
In older people, foot pain caused by stress fractures is associated with osteoporosis and can be an early warning sign for major fractures such as fractures of the hip.
Children (mainly aged between 4 and 6) frequently experience pains in the feet and legs known as growing pains. In most cases these growing pains are treatable.
In people with diabetes, the loss of pain sensation in the feet can lead to ulceration and amputation.

More than 60% of Australians have suffered foot pain in their lifetime, two thirds of those in the last 12 months. Yet only a fraction of those people, two out of five, sought professional treatment for their pain.
30% of those surveyed had experienced foot pain in the last week.
Foot pain was equally common to both men and women.
Foot pain is experienced by people across the age spectrum but the older a person is, the more likely she/he is to have experienced foot pain. For example, more than half of people aged 50 and over had experienced foot pain in the year as compared to 35% of people aged 18-24.
Younger people are less likely to seek professional treatment for foot pain (only 10%) than older people (half of those aged 50 and over had sought professional treatment).