Human feet are really an amazing part of human anatomy that we never even think about - unless one or both of our feet hurt.

Did you know that in one human foot and ankle there are 26 bones? Yes, 26 bones. That is one-fourth of the total number of bones in the entire human body. No wonder foot injuries are so common - there's so much more to fracture and break!

Your feet also contain 33 joints, more than 100 muscles, tendons, and ligaments. And let’s not forget the nerves, blood vessels and skin that wraps the whole thing up so nicely. Yet even when all these parts of the foot are in optimal condition, they can still hurt.

By the time we are one year old, most of us are up walking on our feet. And we continue to walk on our feet for the rest of our lives. They take us all kinds of places…grade school, college, work, play, and home. They bear the entire weight of our bodies for a lifetime.

Yet we don’t give our poor feet a second thought unless they are injured, suffer from some disease, or we have abused them to the point that they are in pain. We can treat our feet better. We SHOULD treat our feet better! We only take good care of our feet when they hurt and demand our attention, but with just a little care we can prevent at least some foot pain altogether.

Here are some suggestions that can prevent foot pain:

* Keeping your toenails trimmed will help to prevent those painful ingrown toenails.

* Keeping your feet well moisturized will help to prevent hard calluses from forming.

* Wear shoes that fit well and don’t pinch, bind, or rub your feet to prevent blisters from forming.

* Make sure your shoes are well-made and have plenty of support. If your favorite shoes don't have much support, a good orthodic really helps prevent foot pain.

* Massage your feet to help improve blood circulation. This can help to prevent a great many problems from ever occurring. A foot spa is a very reasonably priced way to pamper your feet and, more importantly, help pevent foot pain by increasing blood flow and relaxing those 100+ muscles in your feet!

Regular foot maintenance using the tips above, plus investing in a few well-chosen foot care products, can save you many times that cost in expensive podiatrist treatments for your aching feet. You’ll save money not to mention pain. And your feet will thank you!