The muscles of the foot are required to produce enough contractile force that “stiffens” the anatomy of the foot and provides a rigid lever that is stable. This may be one reason why elderly people have a higher tendency to lose their balance and fall. These sensory receptors have been shown to be most sensitive by the age of 40 and slowly decrease over the next decades. The vibrations are thought to help produce the amount of muscle contraction needed to dynamically stabilize the foot anatomy with the muscles that are intrinsic to the foot itself.
#Feet nerve endings skin#
The nerves of the foot process 2 point discrimination, skin stretch and fast and slow vibrations. The higher density of nerve endings leads to more information sent to the brain. The skin on the sole of the human foot has a high density of cutaneous nerves that process the sensations that the foot experiences when it makes contact with the ground during gait of any kind. Assessing this information, can help determine how the foot is functioning while walking, and it has reinforced the value of minimalist shoes and bare feet for strengthening foot muscles and reducing injuries. When someone walks, the foot strikes the ground and a great deal of “information” is processed by the nervous system and its connections in the foot.
As Physical Therapists and other healthcare workers seek to reduce foot pain, they consider how the foot adjusts gravity forces when moving through space.
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