Warm-Water Foot

Cold, wet feet have long rendered soldiers hors de combat as surely as enemy bullets. The rain-soaked coastal lowlands of Viet Nam and the paddy-fields of the Mekong Delta have presented U.S. troops with a less-understood disorder: warm-water-immersion foot.

But last week three Navy doctors described an effective method of retarding, if not actually preventing, the development of the condition.

The problem became acute late in 1965, when troops were out on combat operations for days on end with no chance to change their socks or dry their feet. Their feet became white, wrinkled, and so painful that at best it was difficult to walk. For some, it was impossible. These men had to be evacuated. Warm-water foot was causing more casualties than the Viet Cong.

A research team headed by Dr. Larry J. Buckets figured that a water-repellent ointment might be the answer; the best candidate seemed to be a silicone grease. They enlisted 61 Marine Corps volunteers at Camp Lejeune last summer, when the water temperature in the North Carolina swamps, at 70DEG to 80DEG F., approximated that of Viet Nam.

Of the Marines who sloshed through 18 inches of water without any special protection, five developed immersion foot, and four had to be evacuated after three days. Only one made it through the five-day trial. The other 55 smeared the silicone grease on their feet every 24 hours; some of them also wore silicone-treated socks. Of these men, not one had to drop out because of immersion foot; only six of them developed it, and theirs were mild cases.

The doctors reported in last week's Journal of the A.M.A. that many of the men finished the test with white and wrinkled (though painless) feet, suggesting the possibility that the silicone grease may be only a retardant. But already, tests under combat conditions in Viet Nam show that the grease is highly effective.

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