The windlass is that device that are used by the sailors on yachts to wind the rope about to make it easier to maneuver the boom. In the foot there is a mechanism that is referred to as the windlass mechanism that gets its name from this apparatus used on boats. There is a ligament like structure beneath the foot called the plantar fascia that is at one end connected to the bottom of the heel bone and at the other end to the great toe. When we are walking and the heel comes off the floor, the foot moves around the great toe or hallux where this ligament is attached, tightening up the plantar fascia as it winds about the windlass of the first metatarsal bone. This is the windlass mechanism of the foot. This is a crucial function as the plantar fascia is the thing that supports the arch of the foot, therefore it needs to function properly and efficiently for normal foot biomechanics. It is the foots natural arch support mechanism.
There are a number of conditions linked to this windlass mechanism not functioning properly. In the event the windlass does not work, then the arch of the foot will collapse from this lack of support and a range of conditions may develop as a result of that for example hallux valgus and heel pain. The reason for the windlass not functioning properly can be multiple such as the force needed to establish it simply being too much, so the body has to work harder to help make the windlass function. If that hard work can make it function, then that is a greater energy cost that can be very fatiguing. Clinicians use several design characteristics in foot supports to improve the windlass mechanism and to make walking less difficult and more efficient. If the windlass can be established easily when walking will not require very much and the foot could naturally support its own arch.
