Feet can be polarizing. There are those for whom a long soak in a foot spa or a pedicure is the ultimate cure for stress. Then there are those who cannot even bear the thought of feet.
But, love them or loathe them, our plates of meat are a masterpiece of construction. Their bones are ordered like stones of an arched bridge. In fact, each foot is a series of arches —along the sides and across the sole.
These arches become compressed when your foot touches, then pushes into the ground. This distributes the force of body weight across the floor to avoid wear and tear to the tissues. Then, when the foot lifts off the ground, the squashed arches rebound back into position.
Sometimes the arches don't form properly or collapse. This leads to flat feet , where the sole is in complete (or near complete) contact with the floor. The opposite is high-arched feet , where the arches are more pronounced.
Each of these conditions can lead to abnormalities in the distribution of forces from body weight, often resulting in foot pain. Some babies are born with clubfoot or talipes equinovarus : feet that turn inwards and downwards. The condition occurs when the Achilles tendon is too short.
It's a relatively common condition , affecting around 1 in every 1,000 babies—and it's more common in boys. Clubfoot can be corrected by physiotherapy and surgery. It can also be treated by the Ponseti method —repositioning and casting the feet in plaster over time.
Unhappy feet Well-fitting footwear i.