Trench warfare protected the bodies but left the heads exposed. Ironically, the introduction of the steel helmet in 1915 made head shots more 'survivable', but this reduction of mortality meant a mutilated life for thousands.

At the start of the war those wounded to the head were generally not considered able to survive and they would not usually be 'helped first'. This changed in the course of the war, as progress was made in medical practices like oral and maxillofacial surgery and most notably in the new field of plastic surgery. Surgeons conducted experiments with bone, cartilage and tissue transplants and the likes of Hippolyte Morestin, Harold Gillies and Léon Dufourmentel made enormous advances. Because of the experimental character of this surgery some chose to remain as they were and others could just not be helped yet. Some of the latter were helped by all kinds of new prosthetics to make them look more or less 'normal'.

Foot binding was the custom of applying tight binding to the feet of young girls to modify the shape of their feet. The practice possibly originated among upper class court dancers during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period in 10th century China, then became popular among the elite during the Song dynasty and eventually spread to all social classes by the Qing dynasty. Foot binding became popular as a means of displaying status (women from wealthy families, who did not need their feet to work, could afford to have them bound) and was correspondingly adopted as a symbol of beauty in Chinese culture. Foot binding limited the mobility of women, resulting in them walking in a swaying unsteady gait, although some women with bound feet working outdoor had also been reported. The prevalence and practice of foot binding varied in different parts of the country. Feet altered by binding were called lotus feet.

It has been estimated that by the 19th century, 40–50% of all Chinese women may have had bound feet, and up to almost 100% among upper class Han Chinese women. The Manchu Kangxi Emperor tried to ban foot binding in 1664 but failed. In the later part of the 19th century, Chinese reformers challenged the practice but it was not until the early 20th century that foot binding began to die out as a result of anti-foot-binding campaigns. Foot-binding resulted in lifelong disabilities for most of its subjects, and a few elderly Chinese women still survive today with disabilities related to their bound feet.

Gueules cassées (broken faces) is a French expression for facially disfigured servicemen which originated in World War I. Colonel Yves Picot is said to have coined the term when he was refused passing a checkpoint to a party.

The most common problem with bound feet was infection. Despite the amount of care taken in regularly trimming the toenails, they would often in-grow, becoming infected and causing injuries to the toes. Sometimes for this reason the girl's toenails would be peeled back and removed altogether. The tightness of the binding meant that the circulation in the feet was faulty, and the circulation to the toes was almost cut off, so any injuries to the toes were unlikely to heal and were likely to gradually worsen and lead to infected toes and rotting flesh. The necrosis of the flesh would also initially give off a foul odour, and later the smell may come from various microorganisms that colonized the folds.

If the infection in the feet and toes entered the bones, it could cause them to soften, which could result in toes dropping off; although, this was seen as a benefit because the feet could then be bound even more tightly. Girls whose toes were more fleshy would sometimes have shards of glass or pieces of broken tiles inserted within the binding next to her feet and between her toes to cause injury and introduce infection deliberately. Disease inevitably followed infection, meaning that death from septic shock could result from foot-binding, and a surviving girl was more at risk for medical problems as she grew older. It is thought that as many as 10% of girls may have died from gangrene and other infections due to footbinding.

At the beginning of the binding, many of the foot bones would remain broken, often for years. However, as the girl grew older, the bones would begin to heal. Even after the foot bones had healed, they were prone to re-breaking repeatedly, especially when the girl was in her teenage years and her feet were still soft. Bones in the girls' feet would often be deliberately broken again in order to improve the size or the shape of the feet. This was especially the case with the toes, as small toes were especially desirable. Older women were more likely to break hips and other bones in falls, since they could not balance securely on their feet, and were less able to rise to their feet from a sitting position. Other issues that might arise from foot binding included paralysis and muscular atrophy.

With rest, the tail returns to normal within a few days. Pain relief, such as a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug may be administered. The symptoms may reoccur.

It has been said by many dog owners that limber tail had been caused shortly (24 hours) after swimming in water that is too cold or on rare occasions too warm and indeed this has certainly produced this very condition. The actual cause is unknown but it may be caused by the narrowing of the space through which the spinal cord passes, typically due to degenerative change to the intervertebral disk spaces. These underlying changes may not lead to visible change until the problem is suddenly exacerbated, such as during physical activity, after trauma, etc. Occasionally other changes are seen prior to or in conjunction with limber tail disease, such as urinary or fecal incontinence, postural abnormalities in the pelvic limb, or pain in response to touching the lower back.

Several movies, as well as some anime, involving boxing, martial arts, or other styles of fighting have scenes involving face distortion. Movies like "Cinderella man", which involves American boxing has a few of these moments. Anime's like Bleach and Naruto contain moments of face distortion as well.

The medical aspect of a face distortion is usually the case involving the skull, neck, or brain. whatever treatment for the aftermath of a face distortion depends on the condition of the receiver after the event occurs.

With so few individuals actually surviving until birth, the only treatment option is surgery to try to remove the parasitic twin. Surgery, however, is very dangerous and has been successful only once. The problem with surgical intervention is that the arterial supplies of the head are so intertwined that it is very hard to control the bleeding, and it has been suggested that cutting off the parasitic twin's arterial supply might improve the odds of the developed twin's survival.

Only ten cases of craniopagus parasiticus have been reported in the medical research literature. Of those cases, only three have survived birth. The first case on record is that of Everard Home's Two-Headed Boy of Bengal, whose skull is preserved at the Hunterian Museum at the Royal Society of Surgeons.

A malocclusion is a misalignment or incorrect relation between the teeth of the two dental arches when they approach each other as the jaws close. The term was coined by Edward Angle, the "father of modern orthodontics", as a derivative of "occlusion". This refers to the manner in which opposing teeth meet ("" + "occlusion" = "incorrect occlusion").

Mirror-touch synesthesia is a rare condition which causes individuals to experience the same sensation (such as touch) that another person feels. For example, if someone with this condition were to observe someone touching their cheek, they would feel the same sensation on their own cheek. Synesthesia, in general, is described as a condition in which a stimulus causes an individual to experience an additional sensation. Synesthesia is usually a developmental condition; however, recent research has shown that mirror touch synesthesia can be acquired after sensory loss following amputation.

Three conditions must be met in order to confirm the presence of mirror touch synesthesia. The first condition is that the synaesthetic response, which is defined as the sensation synesthetes feel after observing someone else being touched, should feel like conscious experiences. The second condition is that synesthetic responses are induced by a stimulus that normally does not induce that response. The third condition is that the synesthetic experiences must occur automatically, without conscious thought. In order to examine the prevalence of this condition, a study was conducted at the University College London and University of Sussex. 567 undergraduate participants were recruited and given a questionnaire. From the questionnaire, it was determined that approximately 2.5% of the population experienced mirror-touch synesthesia symptoms. Further studies have shown the prevalence to be 1.6%, meaning that this condition is one of the more common types of synesthesia, along with grapheme-color synesthesia (1.4%) and day-color synesthesia (2.8%). At the moment it is believed that there are two subtypes of the condition. The first type causes a person to feel sensations on the part of their body that mirrors the observed touch. The second type causes a person to feel sensations on the same side of their body as the observed touch.

Studies have attempted to more explicitly define the of synesthetic responses. In most studies, participants are asked to observe someone else being touched and report what kind of synesthetic response they experience. In one particular instance, video clips were used to show different types of observed touch. The of the synesthetic touch is not affected by the location of the observed touch (arm, leg, hand, etc.); however, it is sometimes affected by the spatial orientation of the observed touch. When crossed hands are touched, the hands become uncrossed in the perception of synesthetes. However when the observed hand is upside down, the observed touch does not get rotated. Intensity is also not affected if the observed act consists of someone touching themselves, versus someone touching them. Additionally, the type of object doing the touching has a significant effect on the intensity of the response. If a finger or knife tip is used, a much higher intensity is experienced than if a feather is used. Finally, watching a dummy being touched decreases the intensity of the observed touch significantly. For this reason, it is suspected that in order to experience a synesthetic touch, synesthetes must observe somebody who is capable of feeling sensations.

Mirror touch responses are not limited to feeling touch. Mirror touch synesthetes have a higher ability to feel empathy than non-synesthetes, and can therefore feel the same emotions that someone else may be observed to feel. Additionally, some individuals experience pain when observing someone else in pain, and this is a condition usually developed from birth. Approximately 30% of the normal population experience some form of this condition and around 16% of amputees report synesthetic pain after an amputation. This condition can either be acquired or developed. In the congenital condition, synesthetes experience pain in the same location as the observed pain; however, in the acquired condition, high intensity pain is felt at the same location as the trauma.

Malocclusion is a common finding, although it is not usually serious enough to require treatment. Those who have more severe malocclusions, which present as a part of Craniofacial Anomalies, may require orthodontic and sometimes surgical treatment (orthognathic surgery) to correct the problem. Correction of malocclusion may reduce risk of tooth decay and help relieve excessive pressure on the temporomandibular joint. Orthodontic treatment is also used to align for aesthetic reasons.

Malocclusions may be coupled with skeletal disharmony of the face, where the relations between the upper and lower jaws are not appropriate. Such skeletal disharmonies often distort sufferer's face shape, severely affect aesthetics of the face, and may be coupled with mastication or speech problems. Most skeletal malocclusions can only be treated by orthognathic surgery.

Measures to reduce facial trauma include laws enforcing seat belt use and public education to increase awareness about the importance of seat belts and motorcycle helmets. Efforts to reduce drunk driving are other preventative measures; changes to laws and their enforcement have been proposed, as well as changes to societal attitudes toward the activity. Information obtained from biomechanics studies can be used to design automobiles with a view toward preventing facial injuries. While seat belts reduce the number and severity of facial injuries that occur in crashes, airbags alone are not very effective at preventing the injuries. In sports, safety devices including helmets have been found to reduce the risk of severe facial injury. Additional attachments such as face guards may be added to sports helmets to prevent orofacial injury (injury to the mouth or face); mouth guards also used.

Bone stability after a fracture occurs between 3 and 4 weeks. Some experts suggest not wearing glasses or blowing the nose during this time as it can affect the bone alignment. Full bone fusion occurs between 4 and 8 weeks. General activity is fine after 1–2 weeks, but contact sports are not advisable for at least 2–3 months, depending on the extent of injury. It is recommended that when participating in sports a face guard should be worn for at least 6 weeks post-injury.

Traction alopecia is a form of alopecia, or gradual hair loss, caused primarily by pulling force being applied to the hair. This commonly results from the sufferer frequently wearing their hair in a particularly tight ponytail, pigtails, or braids. It is also seen occasionally in long-haired people who use barrettes to keep hair out of their faces. Traction alopecia is recession of the hairline due to chronic traction, or hair pulling, and is characterized by a fringe along the marginal hairline on physical exam. Even though this "fringe sign" is considered a useful clinical marker of this condition, cases of frontal fibrosing alopecia presenting with an unusual retention of the hairline (pseudo-fringe sign) have been described.

Psychosocial short stature (PSS) or psychosocial dwarfism, sometimes called psychogenic or stress dwarfism, or Kaspar Hauser syndrome, is a growth disorder that is observed between the ages of 2 and 15, caused by extreme emotional deprivation or stress.

The symptoms include decreased growth hormone (GH) and somatomedin secretion, very short stature, weight that is inappropriate for the height, and immature skeletal age. This disease is a progressive one, and as long as the child is left in the stressing environment, his or her cognitive abilities continue to degenerate. Though rare in the population at large, it is common in feral children and in children kept in abusive, confined conditions for extended lengths of time. It can cause the body to completely stop growing but is generally considered to be temporary; regular growth will resume when the source of stress is removed.

It is commonly seen with certain hair styles or braiding patterns that pull the hairline forcefully towards the vertex of the scalp, and has been reported more often in African American women (as some wear their hair tightly pulled back), in whom it can cause scarring. It has also been seen in female ballerinas, and in cultural traditions where the hair is voluntarily not cut in religious obeisance, the latter caused by progressively increasing weight of the hair itself. Traction alopecia is mechanical in cause, rather than androgenic, and treatment is typically not pharmaceutical. Management includes cessation of the chronic traction, cosmeses, with surgical restoration reserved for more severe cases.

Traction alopecia is a substantial risk in hair weaves, which can be worn either to conceal hair loss, or purely for cosmetic purposes. The former involves creating a braid around the head below the existing hairline, to which an extended-wear hairpiece, or wig, is attached. Since the hair of the braid is still growing, it requires frequent maintenance, which involves the hairpiece being removed, the natural hair braided again, and the piece snugly reattached. The tight braiding and snug hairpiece cause tension on the hair that is already at risk for falling out. Traction Alopecia is one of the most common causes of hair loss in African American women.

Sikh men are also susceptible to traction alopecia if the hair under the turban is tied too tightly for many years.

Other causes include:

- Hairstyle. Although the aforementioned style is one of the culprits, hairstyles such as dreadlocks and single (extension) braids can also have the same effect. Men and women who have suffered from traction alopecia have found that the hair loss occurs most at the hair line—primarily around the temples and the sides of their heads.

- Headgear. Compressive safety helmets worn tightly and closely to the scalp are a cause of traction alopecia. The lining of tightly fitted safety helmets like those worn for activities such as motorcycling, cycling, skiing and snowboarding are responsible for the constant rubbing and tugging of localised areas of the hair and scalp. Frequent wearers or those who use such helmets for prolonged periods seem more likely to suffer traction alopecia.

- Chemicals. A condition known as CCCA (central cicatricial centrifugal alopecia), seen almost exclusively in African American women, can cause extensive hair loss. It is caused by a combination of too much stress (traction) on the hair and the use of harsh relaxers and dyes.

Fleischer rings are pigmented rings in the peripheral cornea, resulting from iron deposition in basal epithelial cells, in the form of hemosiderin. They are usually yellowish to dark-brown, and may be complete or broken.

They are named for Bruno Fleischer.

Fleischer rings are indicative of keratoconus, a degenerative corneal condition that causes the cornea to thin and change to a conic shape.

Minor nasal fractures may be allowed to heal on their own provided there is not significant cosmetic deformity. Ice and pain medication may be prescribed to ease discomfort during the healing process. For nasal fractures where the nose has been deformed, manual alignment may be attempted, usually with good results. Injuries involving other structures (Types 2 and 3) must be recognized and treated surgically.

Some confusion exists between Fleischer rings and Kayser-Fleischer rings. Kayser-Fleischer rings are caused by copper deposits, and are indicative of Wilson's disease, whereas Fleischer rings are caused by iron deposits. One example of a medical condition that can present with Fleischer rings is Keratoconus.

Children with PSS have extremely low levels of growth hormone. These children possibly have a problem with growth hormone inhibiting hormone (GHIH) or growth hormone releasing hormone (GHRH). The children could either be unresponsive to GHRH, or too sensitive to GHIH.

Children who have PSS exhibit signs of failure to thrive. Even though they appear to be receiving adequate nutrition, they do not grow and develop normally compared to other children of their age.

An environment of constant and extreme stress causes PSS. Stress releases hormones in the body such as epinephrine and norepinephrine engage what is known as the 'fight or flight' response. The heart speeds up and the body diverts resources away from processes that are not immediately important; in PSS, the production of growth hormone (GH) is thus affected. As well as lacking growth hormone, children with PSS exhibit gastrointestinal problems due to the large amounts of epinephrine and norepinephrine, resulting in their bodies lacking proper digestion of nutrients and further affecting development.

While the cure for PSS is questionable, some studies show that placing the child affected with the disease in a foster or group home increases growth rate and socialization skills.

An immediate need in treatment is to ensure that the airway is open and not threatened (for example by tissues or foreign objects), because airway compromisation can occur rapidly and insidiously, and is potentially deadly. Material in the mouth that threatens the airway can be removed manually or using a suction tool for that purpose, and supplemental oxygen can be provided. Facial fractures that threaten to interfere with the airway can be reduced by moving the bones back into place; this both reduces bleeding and moves the bone out of the way of the airway. Tracheal intubation (inserting a tube into the airway to assist breathing) may be difficult or impossible due to swelling. Nasal intubation, inserting an endotracheal tube through the nose, may be contraindicated in the presence of facial trauma because if there is an undiscovered fracture at the base of the skull, the tube could be forced through it and into the brain. If facial injuries prevent oraotracheal or nasotracheal intubation, a surgical airway can be placed to provide an adequate airway. Although cricothyrotomy and tracheostomy can secure an airway when other methods fail, they are used only as a last resort because of potential complications and the difficulty of the procedures.

A dressing can be placed over wounds to keep them clean and to facilitate healing, and antibiotics may be used in cases where infection is likely. People with contaminated wounds who have not been immunized against tetanus within five years may be given a tetanus vaccination. Lacerations may require stitches to stop bleeding and facilitate wound healing with as little scarring as possible. Although it is not common for bleeding from the maxillofacial region to be profuse enough to be life-threatening, it is still necessary to control such bleeding. Severe bleeding occurs as the result of facial trauma in 1–11% of patients, and the origin of this bleeding can be difficult to locate. Nasal packing can be used to control nose bleeds and hematomas that may form on the septum between the nostrils. Such hematomas need to be drained. Mild nasal fractures need nothing more than ice and pain killers, while breaks with severe deformities or associated lacerations may need further treatment, such as moving the bones back into alignment and antibiotic treatment.

Treatment aims to repair the face's natural bony architecture and to leave as little apparent trace of the injury as possible. Fractures may be repaired with metal plates and screws. They may also be wired into place. Bone grafting is another option to repair the bone's architecture, to fill out missing sections, and to provide structural support. Medical literature suggests that early repair of facial injuries, within hours or days, results in better outcomes for function and appearance.

Surgical specialists who commonly treat specific aspects of facial trauma are oral and maxillofacial surgeons. These surgeons are trained in the comprehensive management of trauma to the lower, middle and upper face and have to take written and oral board examinations covering the management of facial injuries.

Mandible fracture causes vary by the time period and the region studied. In North America, blunt force trauma (a punch) is the leading cause of mandible fracture whereas in India, motor vehicle collisions are now a leading cause. On battle grounds, it is more likely to be high velocity injuries (bullets and shrapnel). Prior to the routine use of seat belts, airbags and modern safety measures, motor vehicle collisions were a leading cause of facial trauma. The relationship to blunt force trauma explains why 80% of all mandible fractures occur in males. Mandibular fracture is a rare complication of third molar removal, and may occur during the procedure or afterwards. With respect to trauma patients, roughly 10% have some sort of facial fracture, the majority of which come from motor vehicle collisions. When the person is unrestrained in a car, the risk of fracture rises 50% and when an unhelmeted motorcyclist the risk rises 4-fold.