What are foot bones

Introduction to foot bonesIt is important to know something about the bones of the foot, because the feet are very important to every day activities.

The foot is the end piece of the leg and it starts bellow the ankle joint. It is, of course, the most important part of the body for functions such as walking, running and jumping.

Not only that, but when performing such actions, the feet bear the entire weight of the body.

Each foot is made up of 26 bones that are separated into three categories, the tarsal, metatarsal bones and phalanges.

Tarsal bones

These bones form a cluster that is located between the tibia, fibula and metatarsus and there are a total of seven bones in this group – the Calcaneus, Talus, Navicular, Medial Cuneiform, Intermediate Cuneiform, Lateral Cuneiform and Cuboid.

The anklebone is called the Talus and this is where the foot begins and the ankle ends.

It is also has retrograde blood supply and is the second largest tarsal.

The Navicular bone is shaped like a boat and is located in the midsection of the foot.

The Medial Cuneiform is the largest of the cuneiform bones and is located in the middle of the foot as well. The other cuneiform bones are the Lateral, which is in the front row of the tarsal cluster, and the 3rd or external one, which is on the outside.

Metatarsal bones

There are five long metatarsus bones and they form most of the middle part of the foot.

The base of every one of them articulates with a tarsal bone, while the head articulates the first row of the toe bones, the phalanges.

The first metatarsal is the bone that is located behind the big toe, and it is the thickest and shortest one of this group.

The second metatarsal is the one that is most often injured by many athletes, especially soccer players.

The other metatarsal that is most prone to injury in sports is the fifth one, which is prone to stress fractures in athletes. Not only that, but Jones fractures are also very common for the fifth metatarsal bone.

Phalanges

The phalanges, simply put, are the bones that make up the toes of the feet.

There are a total of 14 of these bones making up our five toes.

Every one of the toes except the big toe has three phalange bones.

The big toe, or the Hallux, has only two of them.