7 Unusual & Dangerous Remedies from the Past

1. Bloodletting

For thousands of years, medical practitioners clung to the belief that sickness was merely the result of a little “bad blood.” Bloodletting probably began with the ancient Sumerians and Egyptians, but it didn’t become common practice until the time of classical Greece and Rome. Influential physicians like Hippocrates and Galen maintained that the human body was filled with four basic substances, or “humors”—yellow bile, black bile, phlegm and blood—and these needed to be kept in balance to maintain proper health. With this in mind, patients with a fever or other ailment were often diagnosed with an overabundance of blood. To restore bodily harmony, their doctor would simply cut open a vein and drain some of their vital fluids into a receptacle. In some cases, leeches were even used to suck the blood directly from the skin.

While it could easily result in accidental death from blood loss, phlebotomy endured as a common medical practice well into the 19th century. Medieval doctors prescribed blood draining as a treatment for everything from a sore throat to the plague, and some barbers listed it as a service along with haircuts and shaves. The practice finally fell out of vogue after new research showed that it might be doing more harm than good, but leeching and controlled bloodletting are still used today as treatments for certain rare illnesses.

2. Trepanation

Humanity’s oldest form of surgery is also one of its most gruesome. As far back as 7,000 years ago, civilizations around the world engaged in trepanation—the practice of boring holes in the skull as a means of curing illnesses. Researchers can only speculate on how or why this grisly form of brain surgery first developed. A common theory holds that it may have been some form of tribal ritual or even a method for releasing evil spirits believed to possess the sick and mentally ill. Still others argue that it was a more conventional surgery used to treat epilepsy, headaches, abscesses and blood clots. Trepanned skulls found in Peru hint that it was also a common emergency treatment for cleaning out bone fragments left behind by skull fractures, and evidence shows that many of the patients survived the surgery.

3. Mercury

Mercury is notorious for its toxic properties, but it was once used as a common elixir and topical medicine. The ancient Persians and Greeks considered it a useful ointment, and second-century Chinese alchemists prized liquid mercury, or “quicksilver,” and red mercury sulfide for their supposed ability to increase lifespan and vitality. Some healers even promised that by consuming noxious brews containing poisonous mercury, sulfur and arsenic, their patients would gain eternal life and the ability to walk on water. One of the most famous casualties of this diet was the Chinese Emperor Qin Shi Huang, who supposedly died after ingesting mercury pills designed to make him immortal.

From the Renaissance until the early 20th century, Mercury was also used as a popular medicine for diseases like syphilis. While some accounts claimed the heavy metal treatment was successful in fighting off the infection, patients often died from liver and kidney damage caused by mercury poisoning.

4. Animal Dung Ointments

The ancient Egyptians had a remarkably well-organized medical system, complete with doctors who specialized in healing specific ailments. Nevertheless, the cures they prescribed weren’t always up to snuff. Lizard blood, dead mice, mud and moldy bread were all used as topical ointments and dressings, and women were sometimes dosed with horse saliva as a cure for an impaired libido.

Most disgusting of all, Egyptian physicians used human and animal excrement as a cure-all remedy for diseases and injuries. According to 1500 B.C.’s Ebers Papyrus, donkey, dog, gazelle and fly dung were all celebrated for their healing properties and their ability to ward off bad spirits. While these repugnant remedies may have occasionally led to tetanus and other infections, they probably weren’t entirely ineffective—research shows the microflora found in some types of animal dung contain antibiotic substances.

5. Arsenic

During the 1850s, reports of Austrian peasants eating arsenic to give them a healthy porcelain-like complexion swept through Europe and America. An 1898 article in the San Francisco Call, noted the wonderful effectiveness of the natural arsenic found in cucumbers “to bleach the skin and eliminate those unsightly freckles.” The New York Times opined that the “natural arsenic in the cucumber makes it valuable as a skin whitener.” Cucumbers don’t actually contain arsenic and the origin of the myth is totally unknown. 

By 1889, anyone wanting “compelling admiration” could avail themselves of “Dr. Campbell’s Arsenic Complexion Wafers” which would “transform the most sallow skin into a radiant health.” While the use of arsenic in cosmetics is now prohibited, the many blogs and video postings of contemporary beauty tips, suggest that for marketing, very little has changed since Victorian times.

Along with its use in cosmetics, arsenic was also used as a cure-all for many conditions afflicting the body. During the eighteenth century, Thomas Fowler promoted a therapy for a multitude of diseases, including malaria, hypertension, ulcers, and cancer. The liquid, known as Fowler’s Solution was made from arsenic, and thoughtfully, lavender extract, to make it appear more medicinal. Fowler’s Solution was employed for over 150 years, as late as the 1940s. 

6. Snails

A remedy for sore throat during medieval times was snail syrup. To concoct the syrup, people ventured out to their gardens at daybreak and gathered common garden snails, about a pound of them. They’d remove the shells and slit the snails, then put them in a bag with a half pound of sugar. Under the bag, they’d place a basin to collect the syrup from the snails as they gradually dissolved from the sugar and dripped through the bag. This mucilaginous essence of snail was then used for a variety of maladies: internally for gastrointestinal ulcers, coughs, sore throat and externally for burns and wounds. Medieval ladies collected snail secretions to beautify their skin. Although this sounds disgusting, snail slime stimulates collagen and elastin production; in fact, modern cosmetic companies use snail slime in beauty creams.

 7. Partial Tongue Removal

Another practice used by ancient doctors was partial tongue removal. In the 18th century this was used to treat an individual with a stutter. Doctors in the 1700s believed that by cutting part of the tongue the stutter would vanish. However, this did not work and many individuals died due to infections and blood loss.

sources: 
https://www.history.com/news/7-unusual-ancient-medical-techniques#:~:text=Nevertheless%2C%20the%20cures%20they%20prescribed,cure%20for%20an%20impaired%20libido.

https://www.thehistoryreader.com/world-history/the-secret-life-of-arsenic/

https://www.historyonthenet.com/crazy-potions-and-nasty-nostrums-six-bizarre-medieval-medicines

https://medicalclubparttwo.wordpress.com/2017/02/05/unusual-ancient-medical-techniques/