Feet: His and Hers?

There are many variables that are incorporated in the study and treatment of feet such as shoe gear, activity level, and family history of foot pathologies. However, there has been increasing evidence that a fundamental variable has never been considered or often overlooked: gender.
At the microscopic level, men and women are different in terms of their chromosomes. Yet, those microscopic entities translate into enormous physiological differences ranging from hormonal influences to bone structure. Why is it that the difference between male and female feet is not taken into account when evaluating the health of feet?

What aspects of women’s feet differ from those of men’s feet?
The same basic anatomic structure of the foot holds true between the genders. All the bones, ligaments (connective tissue that links bone to bone), muscles, blood vessels, and nerves are present in the same location.
A study conducted on 300 men and 500 women of the armed forces of the United States revealed that there are inherent anatomical differences between males and females. It was found that the men had longer metatarsals, longer arch length, and a narrower forefoot. In addition, differences were noted at the ball of the foot, big toe and the length of the outer border.
As a result, these differences may also influence strength, flexibility of the ligaments, and proprioception (position sense).
Another scientific study also determined that the foot-to-body ratio is higher in males than in females. In other words, males have a longer foot length than that of a woman of the same height. That same study also used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to study join components such as surface area and the amount and nature of the cartilage. It was demonstrated that males had significantly increased thicker cartilage and their joints encompassed more surface area than that of women.

What do these findings mean?
These studies illustrate that women’s feet are not just smaller replicas of men’s feet and the surface of gender difference has only been scratched. The implications of these differences on locomotion and foot health can only be determined with further study!

References

Daniel M. T. Fessler, Kevin J. Haley, and Roshni D. Lal
Sexual Dimorphism in Foot Length Proportionate to Stature
Annals of Human Biology 2005 32: 44-59

Roshna E. Wunderlich and Peter R. Cavanagh.
Gender Differences in Adult Foot Shape: Implications for Shoe Design
Med and Sci in Sports and Exercise 2001 33: 605-611

Central Florida Foot & Ankle Center, LLC
101 6th Street N.W.
Winter Haven, FL 33881
Phone: 863-299-4551
http://www.FLFootandAnkle.com