Abstract :
The foot plays a disproportionately large role in determining body posture and function when compared to its physical size. This is largely due to its primary function of providing a safe and adaptable mechanism through which the rest of the body contacts the ground. The importance of the correct mechanical environment within the foot has been well established for some time, and many conservative treatments are aimed at creating or maintaining this situation. However, the process by which the foot is implicated in any pathological or morphological variation is one which is at best difficult and at worst impossible to establish clinically with any reasonable degree of certainty. This is because the foot reacts to proximal malalignments and itself can cause proximal malalignments, and it is often a case of the `chicken and the egg´ syndrome. Consequently, this means that the treatments offered may be less than satisfactory as the aetiology of the foot presentation is very unclear. This paper illustrates some of the key reasons why the foot is so difficult to treat and shows the unusually high level of interdependence between the mechanical functions of the whole body and the foot
