⏱️ 6 min read
Did You Know? 12 Strange Medical Practices from History
Throughout human history, medical practitioners have employed countless methods to heal the sick and injured. While modern medicine has made tremendous strides in understanding the human body and disease, many historical treatments seem bizarre, dangerous, or downright absurd by today’s standards. These practices were often based on limited scientific knowledge, superstition, or misguided theories about how the body worked. Here are twelve strange medical practices from history that demonstrate just how far medicine has come.
1. Bloodletting
One of the most enduring and widespread medical practices in history, bloodletting involved deliberately removing blood from patients to cure or prevent illness. Physicians believed that balancing the body’s four humors—blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile—was essential for good health. Bloodletting was used to treat everything from fevers and headaches to mental illness. The practice persisted from ancient times through the 19th century, despite often weakening patients and making their conditions worse. George Washington himself likely died partly due to excessive bloodletting during treatment for a throat infection.
2. Trepanation
Trepanation, or trephination, involved drilling or scraping holes into the human skull. This practice dates back to prehistoric times, with archaeological evidence showing skulls with holes from the Neolithic period. Ancient physicians believed trepanation could treat head injuries, epilepsy, mental disorders, and migraines by releasing evil spirits or relieving pressure. Remarkably, many patients survived the procedure, as evidenced by healed skull bones. While modern neurosurgery occasionally employs similar techniques for legitimate medical reasons, historical trepanation was often performed without proper sterilization or anesthesia.
3. Mercury Treatments
For centuries, mercury was considered a cure-all for various ailments, particularly syphilis. Physicians administered mercury through topical ointments, pills, or vapor inhalation. The treatment often caused severe side effects, including tooth loss, kidney damage, and neurological problems. The phrase “mad as a hatter” originated from hat makers who suffered mercury poisoning from the mercury used in felt production. Despite its toxicity, mercury remained a common treatment until the early 20th century, when safer alternatives finally became available.
4. Urine Therapy
Both drinking and bathing in urine were recommended medical treatments in various cultures throughout history. Ancient Romans used urine as a teeth whitener and mouthwash due to its ammonia content. Medieval physicians prescribed urine consumption for ailments ranging from plague to poor complexion. In England, urine was sometimes mixed with herbs and applied to wounds. While urine is sterile when it leaves a healthy body, the practice offered no real medical benefits and could spread disease if the urine was infected.
5. Tobacco Smoke Enemas
In the 18th and early 19th centuries, blowing tobacco smoke into a patient’s rectum was considered an effective treatment for various conditions, including drowning, hernias, and stomach cramps. Medical kits for administering tobacco smoke enemas were even stationed along major waterways to treat drowning victims. Physicians believed the warmth and stimulating properties of tobacco smoke could revive the apparently dead and cure intestinal ailments. The practice fell out of favor when researchers discovered nicotine’s toxicity and the treatment’s ineffectiveness.
6. Lobotomies
The prefrontal lobotomy was a surgical procedure that involved severing connections in the brain’s prefrontal cortex. Introduced in the 1930s, it was used to treat mental illnesses, severe depression, and anxiety. Dr. Walter Freeman popularized the transorbital lobotomy, performed by inserting an ice-pick-like instrument through the eye socket. Tens of thousands of procedures were performed before the practice was largely abandoned in the 1950s due to severe side effects, including personality changes, decreased cognitive function, and death.
7. Mummy Powder
From the 12th through the 17th centuries, European physicians prescribed powdered mummies as medicine. Ground-up mummified remains, primarily from Egypt, were believed to cure everything from bruises to plague. The practice was so popular that it created a thriving trade in mummies, leading to shortages and the creation of fake mummies. Patients consumed the powder mixed into liquids or applied it topically. The practice declined as people began to question its effectiveness and moral implications.
8. Arsenic Complexion Wafers
In the Victorian era, arsenic was marketed as a beauty treatment and consumed in wafer form to improve complexion. Manufacturers claimed these poisonous wafers would create a pale, smooth appearance considered fashionable at the time. While small doses might temporarily improve skin appearance by destroying red blood cells, regular consumption led to serious health problems, including organ damage, cancer, and death. The practice continued until government regulations finally banned arsenic in cosmetics and medicines.
9. Radium Products
Following the discovery of radium in 1898, the radioactive element was incorporated into numerous health products during the early 20th century. Manufacturers marketed radium water, chocolate, suppositories, and cosmetics as health tonics and cure-alls. People believed radiation had miraculous healing properties. Wealthy industrialist Eben Byers famously died in 1932 from radiation poisoning after consuming large quantities of radium water. The dangers of radiation eventually became clear, leading to strict regulations on radioactive materials.
10. Heroin for Children
In 1898, the Bayer pharmaceutical company began marketing heroin as a cough suppressant and non-addictive morphine substitute. It was specifically advertised for children suffering from coughs and colds. Parents gave heroin-laced syrups to their children without understanding the drug’s highly addictive nature. The compound was sold over the counter until 1914, when the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act restricted its sale. Heroin was eventually banned entirely for medical use as its devastating addictive properties became undeniable.
11. Crocodile Dung Contraception
Ancient Egyptians used crocodile dung mixed with honey or other substances as a contraceptive pessary. Women would insert this mixture before intercourse, believing it would prevent pregnancy. While the acidic nature of dung might have had some spermicidal properties, the practice was unsanitary and posed serious infection risks. Other cultures used similar animal dung-based contraceptives, reflecting the universal desire to control fertility long before modern birth control methods were developed.
12. Live Animal Treatments
Various cultures throughout history applied live animals to patients as medical treatments. Physicians placed live leeches on patients to remove “bad blood,” a practice still occasionally used today for specific medical purposes. More bizarrely, some practitioners recommended placing live puppies or pigeons against infected wounds or on patients’ chests to draw out disease. Others prescribed swallowing live fish or frogs to cure various ailments. These treatments were based on the belief that animals could absorb or transfer illness.
Conclusion
These twelve strange medical practices remind us that medicine has always been a evolving field, shaped by the scientific understanding and cultural beliefs of each era. While these treatments seem shocking today, practitioners of the time genuinely believed they were helping their patients. Many medical professionals risked their own reputations and safety to develop these treatments based on the limited knowledge available. The progression from these bizarre practices to modern evidence-based medicine demonstrates humanity’s persistent quest to understand and heal the human body. Today’s cutting-edge treatments may someday seem equally strange to future generations, reminding us that medical knowledge continues to evolve and improve.
