Trench foot
The mainstay of treatment, like the treatment of gangrene, is surgical debridement, and often includes amputation. Self-treatment consists of changing socks two or three times a day and usage of plenty of talcum powder. Wherever possible, shoes and socks should be taken off, feet bathed for five minutes, patted dry, talcum powder applied and feet elevated to let air get to them.
Treatment of equine lameness
DDFT tenotomy is usually recommended in cases of laminitis and coffin bone rotation that is chronic or non-responsive to other forms of treatment. Transection of the DDFT reduces the pull on the bottom of the coffin bone, and subsequently decreases the stress placed on the laminae of the hoof. A horse will not be athletically useful following a DDFT tenotomy, with a best-case scenario of the animal returning to pasture soundness or possibly for comfortable enough for light pleasure riding. It is therefore considered a salvage procedure to improve the quality of life of the horse, often as final effort to avoid euthanasia. This procedure may be performed standing under local anesthesia. The DDFT is cut at the level of the mid-cannon or mid-pastern, although the mid-cannon is preferred to avoid the flexor tendon sheath. A DDFT tenotomy can also be used to treat severe cases of flexural limb deformity in foals, but it is also a salvage procedure and prevents the animal from any future athletic use.