OverviewFeet usually have an arch on the inside portion of the foot. A flat foot is a foot that has lost or never developed this arch. It is often associated with the lower part of the legs being angled outwards. Most flat feet are flexibl…

OverviewThe most common cause of heel pain is plantar fasciitis. Many patients with plantar fasciitis have a heel spur on the front and bottom of their heel, but heel spurs do not cause pain. The common name is "heel spur" because it's eas…

OverviewLarge leg length inequalities can be treated by staged lengthenings or by simultaneous ipsilateral femoral and tibial lengthenings. Additionally, lengthenings can be combined with appropriately timed epiphysiodesis in an effort to …

OverviewSome sources claim that entrapment of the plantar nerve because of compression between the metatarsal heads, as originally proposed by Morton, is highly unlikely, because the plantar nerve is on the plantar side of the transverse m…

There are not one but two unique variations of leg length discrepancies, congenital and acquired. Congenital implies that you are born with it. One leg is anatomically shorter compared to the other. Through developmental periods of aging, …

Overview A common cause of heel pain is the heel spur, a bony growth on the underside of the heel bone. The spur, visible by X-ray, appears as a protrusion that can extend forward as much as half an inch. When there is no indication of bon…

Overview A bone spur (osteophyte) is a bony growth that forms along the edge of normal bone in response to wear and tear, most frequently in the joints. A heel spur is a bone spur of the heel bone, which causes heel pain by rubbing on the …

Overview Heel bursitis is specifically the inflammation of the retrocalcaneal bursa, located at the back of the heel, under the Achilles tendon. There are a handful of factors that put you at risk for developing heel bursitis. Long distanc…

Overview hammertoes is the general term used to describe an abnormal contraction or "buckling" of the toe because of a partial or complete dislocation of one of the joints of the toe or the joint where the toe joins with the rest of the fo…

Overview The term hallux valgus actually describes what happens to the big toe. Hallux is the medical term for big toe, and valgus is an anatomic term that means the deformity goes in a direction away from the midline of the body. So in ha…

Overview The way your foot rolls when it hits the ground is known as pronation, and if you're a runner, it's essential to know what type of pronator you are. There are three types, normal pronation, overpronation, and underpronation (supin…

Overview A syndrome of heel pain in skeletally immature individuals. The formal name is: calcaneal apophysitis. The pain is thought to arise from the growth plate (apophysis) and epiphysis. It is thought to be an overuse phenomena. Overloa…

Overview The Achilles tendon forms a thick band joining your calf muscles to your heel. This tendon can be ruptured with rapid movements such as sprinting, lunging and jumping. There are two ways to treat patients who have ruptured their A…

Overview You may be surprised to learn that most people have one leg that's just a bit longer than the other, or one foot that may be slightly larger. But for children with significant limb length discrepancies, the size difference between…

Overview A more serious condition, according to ACFAS, is adult-acquired flatfoot, often cause by posterior tibial tendon dysfunction (PTTD). In this case, the tendon that supports the arch weakens and fails, leading to a rigid flatfoot wh…