Prenatal and postnatal growth and development of the foot and ankle.

The intent of this article is to present a detailed overview of the normal prenatal and postnatal development and growth of the lower limb with special emphasis on the ankle-foot complex. The effects of physiologic load and its components of duration, timing, and direction are discussed. The results of abnormal amount, timing, duration, or direction of load on the prenatal and postnatal human are discussed with examples of foot deformity provided for clarification. Principles of therapeutic force application for the reversal of deformity are formulated.