# What is the arches of the foot?

Gray’s Anatomy (1918) describes the arches of the foot as follows: In order to allow it to support the weight of the body in the erect posture with the least expenditure of material, the foot is constructed of a series of arches formed by the tarsal and metatarsal bones, and strengthened by the ligaments and tendons of the...

## What it means

- In order to allow it to support the weight of the body in the erect posture with the least expenditure of material, the foot is constructed of a series of arches formed by the tarsal and metatarsal bones, and strengthened by the ligaments and tendons of the foot. The main arches are the antero-posterior arches, which may, for descriptive purposes, be regarded as divisible into two types—a medial and a lateral. The medial arch (see Fig.
- 290 , page 276) is made up by the calcaneus, the talus, the navicular, the three cuneiforms, and the first, second, and third metatarsals. Its summit is at the superior articular surface of the talus, and its two extremities or piers, on which it rests in standing, are the tuberosity on the plantar surface of the calcaneus posteriorly and the heads of the first, second, and third metatarsal bones anteriorly.
- The chief characteristic of this arch is its elasticity, due to its height and to the number of small joints between its component parts. Its weakest part, i. e., the part most liable to yield from overpressure, is the joint between the talus and navicular, but this portion is braced by the plantar calcaneonavicular ligament, which is elastic and is thus able to quickly restore the arch to its pristine condition when the disturbing force is removed.
- The ligament is strengthened medially by blending with the deltoid ligament of the ankle-joint, and is supported inferiorly by the tendon of the Tibialis posterior, which is spread out in a fanshaped insertion and prevents undue tension of the ligament or such an amount of stretching as would permanently elongate it.
- The arch is further supported by the plantar aponeurosis, by the small muscles in the sole of the foot, by the tendons of the Tibialis anterior and posterior and Peronæus longus, and by the ligaments of all the articulations involved. The lateral arch (see Fig. 291 , page 277) is composed of the calcaneus, the cuboid, and the fourth and fifth metatarsals.
- Its summit is at the talocalcaneal articulation, and its chief joint is the calcaneocuboid, which possesses a special mechanism for locking, and allows only a limited movement.

## Sources

- [Gray's Anatomy of the Human Body (1918)](https://www.bartleby.com/lit-hub/anatomy-of-the-human-body/7j-arches-of-the-foot/)

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