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The anatomy of the foot

Reflexology practitioners work towards helping patients feel better by performing a specialized type of massage to areas of the feet and hands. The art has been shown to be helpful in eliminating numerous symptoms that occur in other places throughout the body, and reflexology is beginning to be more and more popular of a choice for those seeking a type of alternative or complementary treatment. The basis of reflexology is that there are thousands of nerve endings located in the feet that connect to organs found throughout the body. By manipulating these nerve endings, practitioners hope to gain a significant improvement in symptoms for several different types of illnesses. Certain parts of the foot are described as having different effects on the health, and reflexology charts have been created that help to explain how specific areas of the foot correspond to other organs. In that respect, in order to be a fully qualified reflexologist, you need to know all that you can about the anatomy of the foot. In this article, we'll work towards giving you a basic understanding of how the foot works in order to increase your knowledge.

The foot has many different bones. The toes consist of bones that are called phalanges, and there are proximital phalanges at the base of the toes, middle phalanages in the middle, and diatal phalanges at the end. Attached to the phalanges are the metatarsal bones, which are quite long and make up a good portion of the bone structure found in the foot. The metatarsals connect to a series of bones at the base of the foot: the cuneiform bones and the cuboid bone. Behind these bones are the calcaneous bone, the talus bone, and the navicular bone, comprising the complete bone structure of the foot.

The nerve endings of the feet are the part of the body which responds the most to reflexology treatment. There are roughly fifteen thousand nerve endings in the feet, and many reflexologists refer to the feet as a ‘hologram of the body' since so many nerve endings are linked to them. Manipulating the nerve endings can increase blood flow to the area and help to break up any waste particles that may be located in the tissues, helping to flush them from the body.

All in all, there are twenty eight bones in the feet. Nineteen muscles help the foot to move properly, and there are a full one hundred and seven ligaments located in them as well. There are over a hundred thousand sweat glands in the feet, thirty separate joints, and thirty one tendons. Clearly, the feet are quite the compact system! They compose the largest mass of energy in the whole body, so it is easy to see why reflexology can be a helpful practice when it comes to helping someone to stay in good spirits and health. If you are interested in which parts of the body correspond to which locations in the foot, it would be in your best interests to purchase a reflexology chart which will give you a great basic idea of where the special reflexology points are.