Can our feet shape our lives?

 (Published in ENRICH magazine 2021)

OUR FEET ARE the most abused part of the human body. If you believe the answer is anything other than your feet, you'd better re-evaluate your beliefs, mate. Of course, it's your feet.

We ruthlessly pound our feet day in and day out for our entire lives without qualm and forget about them until an accident or illness reminds us of their irreplaceable value. Our feet make life worthwhile by taking us to the places that matter to us.

Over the course of that journey, the average American will take some 5,000 steps everyday, which is the equivalent of four kilometers, according to data from WebMD. An American will walk at least 1.8 million steps over the course of a year.

Over 90% of them have access to at least one car, which suggests Americans don't really walk that much. Americans travel on their butts more than we do.

On the other hand, Pinoys aren't blessed with the benefits of a motorized society. Only some six percent of the more than 25 million Filipino households owned a car, jeep or van in 2018, noted Statista. Around 25% of Filipino households owned a motorcycle or a tricycle.

This means about seven in 10 Pinoys either commute via public transport or walk to wherever it is they're going. Commuting means you have to do a lot of walking to get to a bus, a jeep, a tricycle or to an LRT or MRT station. Rural Filipinos definitely walk a lot more than their urban brothers due to a dearth of motor vehicles in the provinces.

Also, the raging COVID-19 pandemic has forced Filipinos to walk more given trip limitations imposed on public transportation during CQs (community quarantines) and lockdowns. This fact plays out on TV news videos depicting commuters walking to work or returning home because there are no rides to be had.

What all this data really drives home is the painful fact the average Filipino's most reliable mode of transportation is still his two feet. It reveals the average "kababayan" definitely takes more than 5,000 steps a day, which also means we should be kinder to our feet.

You can pamper your pedal extremities with soothing foot massages, moisturize them often with lotions and creams, pedicure them regularly and check them daily for cuts, bruises and calluses. And rush to a podiatrist if there's something seriously wrong with your feet such as plantar fasciitis.

Other proven ways to protect your feet: avoid wearing tight-fitting shoes that hurt and might deform your feet, avoid wearing high heels regularly and stop wearing "tsinelas," or flip-flops, which don’t provide enough arch support for flat-footed Pinoys.

These suggestions might seem like overkill but they make eminent sense. Ask yourself this question: "Can I get anywhere, both literally and figuratively, without my feet?" So, love your feet and your feet will love you back.

This brings us to the main point of this story: to love your feet more, you've got to know more about them. For instance, do your feet affect your health and reveal your personality?

Sexy Egyptian feet

Let's start with foot shapes. There are anywhere from five to eight common foot shapes worldwide depending on the sources you peruse. Most of these foot shapes have Caucasian names but still apply to Filipinos, however.

The most widely accepted foot shapes are called Celtic, Egyptian, German, Greek, Roman and Square. Then, there's this outlier called the Asian foot.

I bet you looked at your feet after reading this and asked yourself, "What's my foot shape called?" I also bet you'll discover that after you finish reading this story and look at the feet of the other people in your household, you'll find their foot shapes are mostly either Egyptian or Greek.

The Egyptian Foot is the most elegant looking because its toes gently taper downward in a 45 degree curve from the "big toe" to the "little toe." This means the longest toe is the big toe (also called "the hallux" or "great toe") while the shortest is the little toe (or the "baby toe").

The second toe, or "long toe," is slightly shorter than the hallux; the third toe, or "middle toe," is slightly shorter than the long toe while the fourth toe, or "ring toe," is slightly shorter than the middle toe.

The sexy Egyptian foot is the most functional of all foot shapes, according to podiatrists in New Zealand. At least 80% of the Japanese population (126 million in 2019) is estimated to have Egyptian Feet. As a result, shoes in Japan are generally made to fit Japanese with Egyptian feet. Many Japanese shoemakers clearly label their shoes are made to fit Egyptian feet.

Egyptian feet

Egyptian feet are the type least likely to suffer from arthritis, bunions and load-dependent pain, said a story published in a major British newspaper. A study by Japanese researchers said Egyptian feet also seem to better protect against ingrown toenails.

This lovely foot, however, comes with its share of drawbacks. Because Egyptian feet are usually longer and narrower than other foot shapes, they induce greater supination when walking. 

Supination occurs when a person places his weight on the outside of his foot while walking or running. Shoe heels whose rear outer edges are worn away are signs its wearer supinates.

The uneven weight distribution due to supination causes stress on the heel when one walks or runs. Supination also imposes excess strain on your ankles. This can result in pain in the heels and balls of the feet.

Supination can also trigger calluses (thick, hardened layers of skin), bunions (a bony bump that forms on the joint at the base of the big toe) and shin splints (an inflammation of the muscles, tendons and bone tissue around the tibia).

Some people insist one's foot shape can indicate one's personality. While this contention it patently untrue, it might be amusing to know people with Egyptian feet are said to have "royal feet." People with Egyptian feet also enjoy being pampered and cared for. They also like to live life surrounded by things beautiful.

The Greeks among us

A Greek foot is easy to spot: the second or long toe is longer than the rest. This is due to the length of the metatarsals (the long bones connecting your toes to the back of your foot). Metatarsals curve upward to form the arch of your foot. In people with Greek feet, the first metatarsal, which is the thickest, is shorter than the thinner second metatarsal.

Also known as “flame foot” or "Morton's toe," the Greek foot is an inherited or genetic trait and not an indication one's forebears came from Greece. The Greek foot is, however, a common trait among Greeks. It might even be found in some 30% of the world's population, said one estimate.

The Greek foot might also be the most common in the United States. A study involving American college students found 42% had Greek feet. This trait was more prevalent among young men compared to young women.

The world famous Venus de Milo statue at the Louvre Museum in Paris and The Statue of Liberty in New York City have Greek feet.

Greek feet

There has been research suggesting Greek feet might be an advantage in sports. A 2004 study found professional athletes tended to have Greek feet more frequently than non-athletes.

On the other hand, having a shorter first metatarsal (the big toe) could place more weight on the thinner second metatarsal bone. A longer second toe means the pressure exerted with every step isn't evenly distributed.

People with Greek feet might eventually suffer from foot aches and pains such as plantar fasciitis (an inflammation of the fibrous tissue, or the plantar fascia, along the bottom of the foot); metatarsalgia (ball-of-foot pain) and Morton’s neuroma (a painful condition affecting the ball-of-foot).

On the plus side (and this again is only speculative), people with Greek feet are said to be sporty and creative. They do have the tendency to be impulsive, which can lead to stress.

It's said these people also have leadership qualities. A person with Greek feet whose second toe is narrow at the bottom and is much wider at the top is said to be very expressive and have drama queen traits.

Roman feet conquer the world

Roman feet, which seem to be prevalent among the Caucasian or white rsce,  are thought to be the world's most common foot shape and might be present in a quarter of the world’s population of 7.7 billion persons.

In a Roman foot, the big toe, long toe and middle toe are almost the same length and are the longest. The ring toe is shorter than the middle toe while the baby toe is the shortest of them all.

People with Roman feet are less prone to supination and pronation (the inward roll of a foot when walking or running) due to its stiffer form. They also typically have high arches, making for faster acceleration when running and quicker changes of direction.

Roman feet

On the minus side, people with Roman feet could be more prone to "hammertoe," an abnormal bend in the middle joint of the long, middle, ring and baby toes. Hammertoe is caused by an existing imbalance in the muscles and ligaments that keep toes straight. It can be reversed with treatment, however.

Speculation has it people with Roman feet are said to be well balanced and have a well-proportioned bodies. They also tend to be outgoing and love being tourists exploring new places.

As for the other foot types, the German foot is a rectangular-shaped foot identified by a large big toe with the other four toes almost of the same length. In a Celtic foot, there is a large but short big toe, a long second toe with the remaining three toes decreasing in length. A square foot is one where all five toes are of equal length.

The surprising Asian foot

It's debatable if there's a foot type called the "Asian foot."  It's said Asian feet are shorter than Western feet by an average of two centimeters. Asian feet also have a lower instep; are wider and less bony and are higher-arched and narrower than Western feet.

Hong Kong-based Dr. Alexandra Duff, a UK trained podiatrist with 20 years clinical practice, begged to differ. She insists Asian feet tend to be slightly broader in the forefoot and have a lower arch profile compared to Western feet.

She claims 80% of Asians are flat-footed (which is the same as having low arches), the largest number among all ethnic group. Low arches are implicated in overpronation; high arches are a cause of oversupination.

A Western study said low arches (or pes planus) tend to be very common among Asians with estimates suggesting it occurs in around 20% of this population. This estimate is markedly lower than Dr. Duff's.

The debate over the structure of the Asian foot doesn't obscure the reality Asian feet still fall within the six foot types enumerated in this story.  I wasn't able to find a single person I know, and whose feet I checked, with Roman, German, Celtic and Square shaped feet. Many of these people are also flat-footed.