Trench foot
Trench foot can be prevented by keeping the feet clean, warm, and dry. It was also discovered in World War I that a key preventive measure was regular foot inspections; soldiers would be paired and each made responsible for the feet of the other, and they would generally apply whale oil to prevent trench foot. If left to their own devices, soldiers might neglect to take off their own boots and socks to dry their feet each day, but if it were the responsibility of another, this became less likely. Later on in the war, instances of trench foot began to decrease, probably as a result of the introduction of the aforementioned measures; of wooden duckboards to cover the muddy, wet, cold ground of the trenches; and of the increased practice of troop rotation, which kept soldiers from prolonged time at the front.
Foot whipping
In the Middle Eastern "falaka" method, the victim is forced to lie on his or her back while the feet are elevated and bound. The beating is generally performed with a rigid wooden stick, a club or a truncheon. The term "falaka" describes the wooden plank used to tie up the ankles; however, different items are used for this purpose. The essentially different German method, which was practiced until the end of the Third Reich era, involved strapping the barefoot, prone prisoner's upper body and both ankles to a wooden bench or a plank. The feet were then forced into a pointed posture (plantar flexion) with the bare undersides facing upward. The prisoner's hands were tied behind the back, usually using a cord or a leather strap. The person was thus rendered largely immobile and, in particular, unable to move their feet from the forced position. The typically occurring contortions of the body during the execution of torture were largely halted, as well. This way, the punishment could be inflicted with a certain degree of accuracy to not cause unwanted lesions or other severe injury. It was typically executed with a slightly flexible beating accessory such as a cane or a switch. More infrequently, short whips or leather straps were also used. This form of punishment was mainly employed in women's penal institutions and labor camps where prisoners were often kept barefoot.