The trench foot – Suffering in wetness and mud - Stages of the disease

Stages of the disease

With a combination of wetness and cold the foot first loses its warmth. In the trenches, the soldiers moreover were forced into absolute immobility. Under these conditions, the "natural air-conditioning", our vascular system, fails. Due to the stay in cold mud the foot becomes deeply hypothermic. And here we have the decisive difference between the immersion foot and superficial frostbites. The soldier notices it first by feeling increasing cold pain in the foot. Shoes that often were very tight and the wearing of several layers of socks seemed to be the reason for the soldier for the strangely pulling kind of deep pain. In the beginning some of them tried to fight the phenomenon by moving the toes, but it was in vain. If the soldier stayed in the trench for a longer time, if he was squatting, if the relief did not come, the phenomenon got worse. Additionally the arteries were pinched off. Now paraesthesias occurred, the soldier had the feeling that his legs "fell asleep". After a while the foot and the leg became numb, pale, wrinkled and marmorated. Edema developed.

Photos from the First World War show that the person concerned had to be carried. Walking was often impossible for the victims due to severe pain in the balls and heels.

If the cold and the wetness continued for many hours and days, necroses developed, irreversible tissue changes. If feet and legs were then warmed up suddenly, protein breakdown products were flushed out via the blood and fever developed. The medics now saw taut, tight, shiny and deeply red skin. Sometimes blisters developed. But in the beginning of the war medics and doctors were often still inexperienced: delays and mistakes then led to gangrene in the end.