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.
Surgical treatment of ingrown toenails
Following injection of a local anaesthetic at the base of the toenail and perhaps application of a tourniquet, the surgeon will remove (ablate) the edge of the nail growing into the flesh and destroy the matrix area with phenol to permanently and selectively ablate the matrix that is producing the ingrown portion of the nail (i.e., the nail margin). This is known as a partial matrixectomy, phenolisation, phenol avulsion or partial nail avulsion with matrix phenolisation. Also, any infection is surgically drained. After this procedure, other suggestions on aftercare will be made, such as salt water bathing of the toe. The purpose of the procedure is to prevent re-growth where the matrix was cauterized. After the procedure, the nail is slightly narrower (usually one millimeter or so) and is barely noticeable a year later. The surgery is advantageous because it can be performed in the doctor's office under local anesthesia and recovery time is minimal. There is no visible scar on the surgery site and a nominal chance of recurrence. However, if the phenol is improperly or inadequately applied, the nail matrix can regenerate from its partial cauterization and grow a new nail. This will result in a recurrence of the ingrown nail in approximately 4–6 months as the skin that the original ingrown nail grew under would also recover from the procedure. It should be noted that the recovery of the skin on either side of the nail is standard in this type of procedure. Many patients who suffer from a minor recurrence of the ingrown nail often have the procedure performed again. However, in cases of severe recurrence, a podiatrist can perform the procedure again or resort to a more involved, permanent solution such as removal of the entire nail or the Vandenbos Procedure.