Cavus foot is a problem with excessively high arches.

This directs most of your body weight on to your heels and the ball of your foot, rather than distributing the pressure evenly over your entire foot.

Over time, this can create painful problems in both your forefoot and your heel.

You’ll be more prone to metatarsalgia, claw toes, calluses, hammertoes and pain when you stand or walk. You may have trouble fitting into some shoes.

Sometimes the foot tilts to one side, too, which destabilizes the limb and may increase the odds of spraining your ankle.

Cavus foot can be a natural foot shape that you’re born with, but frequently it’s the result of a neurological disorder.

Cerebral palsy, Charcot Marie Tooth disease, polio, muscular dystrophy, and spina bifida are all conditions that may cause your arches to develop higher than normal.

Arches that are naturally high are static—they stay the way they are and generally don’t get worse.

Midfoot problems from nervous issues, however, tend to be progressive.

If you have a high arch, you aren’t able to distribute your body weight evenly through your whole foot. Instead, the extra pressure is directed into your heel and the ball of your foot.

This can cause pain in those areas when you stand or walk, particularly after an extended period of time.

You may develop calluses on your soles, too. The pressure may cause hammertoes or claw toes as well, adding to any discomfort.

If your high arch, or cavus foot, is the result of a neurological problem, you may have other painful issues as well. Your gait might change and your arch may get higher.

Some people develop foot drop, or weak muscles that make it difficult to lift your feet off the ground.

Finding shoes that comfortably accommodate your arch height and shape may be challenging as well, that’s where we come in. We are the only clinic in and around San Antonio to offer custom 3D orthotics with the FitStation by HP. 

The easiest way to identify your arch type is to take the “wet test.”

Wet the bottom of your foot in a shallow pan or bucket of water, then set your sole down on a piece of paper. Once you’ve made a footprint on the paper, remove your foot and examine the print’s shape.

If you have a moderate curve between the ball of the foot and the heel, you have a normal arch height.

If the print appears to have very little or no curve on the inside—so it’s just one oblong mark—you probably have low or flat arches.

If you have a significant curve in the middle of the print, so the ball of the foot and the heel are only connected by a small area, you have high arches.

No one arch type is “bad” or necessarily a problem; however, low and high arches may be more prone to pain and overuse issues.