The foot is one of the most complicated structures in the human body yet it is often neglected and always taken for granted. The more we exercise, the more we use our feet and therefore the more care we should take in protecting and looking after them.

This section includes:
Information on common ailments - such as heel pain and Tailor's Bunion, - how to avoid and how to deal with these conditions, and some not so common ailments such as Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (Complex Regional Pain Syndrome)
Click on any of the foot ailment headings on the left navigation panel to get in-depth information, complete with references and extended information from respected podiatry publications.

Practical advice on how to look after your feet on a day to day basis - as well as tips for keeping your feet healthy.

Primer on "Footology"
The foot could easily be argued as one of the most important structures of the human anatomy. It provides us with balance, allows us to be mobile, and is an excellent indicator regarding the functionality of the many systems of the body. Though a very complex structure, the foot can be explained and divided into regions making "footology" fun and interesting. To begin exploration of the foot, we will begin with the building blocks for all structures of the body, bones.

Now for the grand prize, how many bones would you guess were in the foot? Well you have 5 toes, also known as phalange’s, so lets start the guessing at 5. Did you guess 10? How about 14? Well to save you the suspense, the foot is composed of an amazing 26 bones and usually 2 sesamoid bones! With so many bones in a small area, it makes things a littler easier to know that each bone has its own name and can be divided into one of three areas. Sort of like living in a small city and having different neighborhoods. Well, the foot would have 3 neighborhoods. Theses "hoods" would be the Forefoot, Midfoot, and the Rearfoot. Now that we know the 3 hoods of the foot, let’s explore who lives in each hood.

Let’s start by seeing who lives in Rearfoot. Now Rearfoot for our purposes could be considered the really expensive neighborhood so not that many people live there, only 2 matter of fact; Talus and Calcaneus. Now across the railroad tracks is another hood called Midfoot. Midfoot is better priced so we have 5 people living there; Navicular, Cuboid, and then we have the Cuneiform Triplets (1st, 2nd, and 3rd). Still if you go under the bridge you come into the happening area where all the shops and restaurants are called Forefoot. This is the place to be and we have 19 residents; the Metatarsal family consisting of 5 members (1-5), the Proximal Phalange family consisting of 5 members (1-5), the Middle Phalange family consisting of 4 members (2-5), and the Distal Phalange family consisting of 5 members (1-5). As you can see, the Phalange’s have Forefoot pretty much on lock down. Last but not least we have the 2 Sesamoid twins who live in the basement of the 1st Metatarsal’s house.

This simplified understanding of the bones should be helpful in knowing just how complex and what an important structure the foot is. Do you think you could label the bones in the foot and color-code them according to their different hoods? Have fun.