ABSTRACT
The foot is a subject’s main contact area with the ground – an obvious point, but one which helps account for the very high number of conditions affecting this area, in sport especially. An athlete’s foot may have to withstand forces two or three times greater than body weight, and this may be repeated more than 5,000 times every hour when running. Most sports involve some sort of running or jumping, and so the foot is continually called upon to provide both stability and shock attenuation. Prolonged standing is often part of daily living, and again the foot is placed under considerable stress.
