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© Getty Images
0 / 31 Fotos
Cure rabies with raw veal
- In ancient Rome, Pliny the Elder, a naturalist and author, suggested treating rabies by cutting open the wound, applying raw veal, consuming lime and hog's fat, and drinking wine with boiled badger dung...
© Shutterstock
1 / 31 Fotos
Cure a hangover with owl eggs
- Pliny also recommended drinking owl eggs mixed with wine for three days as a remedy for hangovers in ancient times.
© Getty Images
2 / 31 Fotos
Heroin as cough medicine
- Cough medicines included heroin in the late 19th century, marketed as a "non-addictive morphine substitute." Despite its addictive nature, it remained available in the United States until the FDA banned it in 1924.
© Getty Images
3 / 31 Fotos
Gum lancing to prevent infant mortality
- In the past, infant mortality was often linked to teething. Doctors used harsh methods like bleeding, blistering, and gum lancing (otherwise known as gum cutting), which caused infections and unknown deaths. Even as late as 1938, gum lancing remained a common practice.
© Shutterstock
4 / 31 Fotos
Cure rabies with ground liverwort and a cold bath
- In the 1700s, 'The Book of Phisick' recommended treating rabies by taking 40 grains of ground liverwort and 20 grains of pepper in milk for four mornings, followed by cold baths every other day for a month.
© Shutterstock
5 / 31 Fotos
Treat epilepsy with a hair and deer bones powder
- 'The Book of Phisick' also recommends treating epilepsy by consuming a powder made from a strong man's hair and deer leg bone leading up to the new moon.
© Shutterstock
6 / 31 Fotos
Treat asthma with cigarettes
- Asthma cigarettes, popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, contained toxic ingredients like stramonium, belladonna, and tobacco, despite their dangerous effects on health.
© Shutterstock
7 / 31 Fotos
Sober up with saffron
- The 1382 'Red Book of Hergest,' a Welsh manuscript, suggests curing drunkenness with saffron and spring water. However, excessive use could lead to "death from joy."
© Shutterstock
8 / 31 Fotos
Cure everything with radium
- Radium was once used to treat ailments like arthritis and aging. However, we now know that it causes radiation sickness and contamination from arsenic and lead.
© Shutterstock
9 / 31 Fotos
Cure typhus with a prayer
- In the 10th century, typhus treatment had religious elements: the patient would go outside, write a prayer on paper, and hold it to their left breast for healing.
© Getty Images
10 / 31 Fotos
Treat asthma with boiled carrots
- In his 1740s book 'Primitive Physick,' British evangelist John Wesley recommended treating asthma with "a fortnight on boiled carrots only."
© Shutterstock
11 / 31 Fotos
A vinegar-soaked rag for heart palpitations
- For heart palpitations, Wesley recommended treatments like "drinking a pint of cold water," "applying a rag dipped in vinegar," and "undergoing electrification."
© Shutterstock
12 / 31 Fotos
Cure toothaches with electricity
- Wesley suggested electrifying toothache patients. Electrotherapy, new in the 1700s, was used until the early 1900s for epilepsy, paralysis, impotence, tapeworms, and more.
© Shutterstock
13 / 31 Fotos
Prevent nosebleeds with bloodletting
- In Wesley's time, nosebleed patients often underwent bloodletting (removal of blood), dating back to 200 CE. It was believed to restore balance among the body's four humors, and was also used for illnesses like the plague and smallpox.
© Getty Images
14 / 31 Fotos
Milk transfusions
- In the late 19th century, milk transfusions were believed to replace blood, with the fats forming white blood cells. While a few succeeded, many, like one requiring morphine and whiskey, resulted in death.
© Getty Images
15 / 31 Fotos
Prevent tipsiness with ground bird beaks
- In ancient Assyria, ground bird beaks mixed with myrrh were eaten to prevent tipsiness. While it was believed to work, it likely felt more painful than enduring a hangover...
© Getty Images
16 / 31 Fotos
Treat malaria with a magic word
- In the 3rd century CE, a Roman physician recommended writing "Abracadabra" in a triangular pattern on paper, wearing it for nine days, then tossing it in a stream. If ineffective, rub with lion fat.
© Shutterstock
17 / 31 Fotos
Treat Bible cysts with a dead man's hand
- In 1743, Lorenz Heister suggested treating Bible cysts (ganglion cysts) by strapping a bullet to them or using a dead man’s hand. He also recommended hitting them with a heavy book.
© Shutterstock
18 / 31 Fotos
Treat colic with "soothing syrup"
- Between the mid-1800s and early 1900s, Mrs. Winslow's Soothing Syrup, sold for 25 cents, was advertised for colic, teething, and pain relief. It worked due to its high morphine content.
© Getty Images
19 / 31 Fotos
Treat syphilis with mercury
- From the 16th to 20th centuries, mercury was used to treat syphilis and other ailments. Despite knowing of its toxicity, doctors continued using it, even in low doses, until the 18th century.
© Shutterstock
20 / 31 Fotos
Treat hay fever with cocaine
- Dr. Thomas Jefferson Ritter's 1910 book 'Mother’s Remedies' recommended remedies like spraying a "four-percent solution of cocaine" for hay fever.
© Getty Images
21 / 31 Fotos
Treat asthma with chloroform
- The book also suggests inhaling chloroform for asthma. Like cocaine, it was commonly used in the US as an anesthetic, though we now know chloroform is toxic.
© Getty Images
22 / 31 Fotos
Treat chapped hands with sour cream
- Dr. Ritter also recommended treating chapped hands by placing sour cream in a cloth, burying it overnight, and then applying the cream the next day after unearthing it.
© Shutterstock
23 / 31 Fotos
Treat ringworm with gunpowder and vinegar
- 'Mother's Remedies' suggests treating ringworm with a paste of gunpowder and vinegar, and then applying it until the infection disappears, even if multiple applications are needed.
© Shutterstock
24 / 31 Fotos
Use nux vomica for headaches
- Dr. Ritter recommended mixing a drop of tincture of nux vomica with water for certain headaches. Today, nux vomica is known as the primary source of strychnine, a toxic rat poison!
© Shutterstock
25 / 31 Fotos
Treat bruises with a powder made from human remains
- In the 16th and 17th centuries, human bodies were used in European remedies for ailments like headaches and bruises. Powdered remains were applied to the skin or ingested, used by figures like French King Francis I and Francis Bacon.
© Shutterstock
26 / 31 Fotos
Cure a hangover by eating pickled sheep's eyes
- During Genghis Khan's reign, Mongols ate pickled sheep's eyes for breakfast to cure hangovers. The tradition continues today, though it's now typically followed by a glass of tomato juice.
© Getty Images
27 / 31 Fotos
Treat cataracts with periwinkle flowers
- 'Bald's Leechbook,' a 10th-century medical text housed at the British Library, recommends using burnt periwinkle flowers and honey to treat cataracts.
© Getty Images
28 / 31 Fotos
Cure swollen eyes with the eyes of a crab
- According to the same text, swollen eyes were treated by removing a live crab's eyes, throwing the crab back in the water, and applying the eyes to the neck of the affected person.
© Getty Images
29 / 31 Fotos
Treat swollen body parts with a fox tooth
- Similarly, to heal swelling, 'Bald's Leechbook' advises removing a tooth from a live fox, securing it in fawn skin, and placing the skin on the swollen area. Sources: (Medical News Today) (Mental Floss) (Library of Congress)
© Getty Images
30 / 31 Fotos
© Getty Images
0 / 31 Fotos
Cure rabies with raw veal
- In ancient Rome, Pliny the Elder, a naturalist and author, suggested treating rabies by cutting open the wound, applying raw veal, consuming lime and hog's fat, and drinking wine with boiled badger dung...
© Shutterstock
1 / 31 Fotos
Cure a hangover with owl eggs
- Pliny also recommended drinking owl eggs mixed with wine for three days as a remedy for hangovers in ancient times.
© Getty Images
2 / 31 Fotos
Heroin as cough medicine
- Cough medicines included heroin in the late 19th century, marketed as a "non-addictive morphine substitute." Despite its addictive nature, it remained available in the United States until the FDA banned it in 1924.
© Getty Images
3 / 31 Fotos
Gum lancing to prevent infant mortality
- In the past, infant mortality was often linked to teething. Doctors used harsh methods like bleeding, blistering, and gum lancing (otherwise known as gum cutting), which caused infections and unknown deaths. Even as late as 1938, gum lancing remained a common practice.
© Shutterstock
4 / 31 Fotos
Cure rabies with ground liverwort and a cold bath
- In the 1700s, 'The Book of Phisick' recommended treating rabies by taking 40 grains of ground liverwort and 20 grains of pepper in milk for four mornings, followed by cold baths every other day for a month.
© Shutterstock
5 / 31 Fotos
Treat epilepsy with a hair and deer bones powder
- 'The Book of Phisick' also recommends treating epilepsy by consuming a powder made from a strong man's hair and deer leg bone leading up to the new moon.
© Shutterstock
6 / 31 Fotos
Treat asthma with cigarettes
- Asthma cigarettes, popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, contained toxic ingredients like stramonium, belladonna, and tobacco, despite their dangerous effects on health.
© Shutterstock
7 / 31 Fotos
Sober up with saffron
- The 1382 'Red Book of Hergest,' a Welsh manuscript, suggests curing drunkenness with saffron and spring water. However, excessive use could lead to "death from joy."
© Shutterstock
8 / 31 Fotos
Cure everything with radium
- Radium was once used to treat ailments like arthritis and aging. However, we now know that it causes radiation sickness and contamination from arsenic and lead.
© Shutterstock
9 / 31 Fotos
Cure typhus with a prayer
- In the 10th century, typhus treatment had religious elements: the patient would go outside, write a prayer on paper, and hold it to their left breast for healing.
© Getty Images
10 / 31 Fotos
Treat asthma with boiled carrots
- In his 1740s book 'Primitive Physick,' British evangelist John Wesley recommended treating asthma with "a fortnight on boiled carrots only."
© Shutterstock
11 / 31 Fotos
A vinegar-soaked rag for heart palpitations
- For heart palpitations, Wesley recommended treatments like "drinking a pint of cold water," "applying a rag dipped in vinegar," and "undergoing electrification."
© Shutterstock
12 / 31 Fotos
Cure toothaches with electricity
- Wesley suggested electrifying toothache patients. Electrotherapy, new in the 1700s, was used until the early 1900s for epilepsy, paralysis, impotence, tapeworms, and more.
© Shutterstock
13 / 31 Fotos
Prevent nosebleeds with bloodletting
- In Wesley's time, nosebleed patients often underwent bloodletting (removal of blood), dating back to 200 CE. It was believed to restore balance among the body's four humors, and was also used for illnesses like the plague and smallpox.
© Getty Images
14 / 31 Fotos
Milk transfusions
- In the late 19th century, milk transfusions were believed to replace blood, with the fats forming white blood cells. While a few succeeded, many, like one requiring morphine and whiskey, resulted in death.
© Getty Images
15 / 31 Fotos
Prevent tipsiness with ground bird beaks
- In ancient Assyria, ground bird beaks mixed with myrrh were eaten to prevent tipsiness. While it was believed to work, it likely felt more painful than enduring a hangover...
© Getty Images
16 / 31 Fotos
Treat malaria with a magic word
- In the 3rd century CE, a Roman physician recommended writing "Abracadabra" in a triangular pattern on paper, wearing it for nine days, then tossing it in a stream. If ineffective, rub with lion fat.
© Shutterstock
17 / 31 Fotos
Treat Bible cysts with a dead man's hand
- In 1743, Lorenz Heister suggested treating Bible cysts (ganglion cysts) by strapping a bullet to them or using a dead man’s hand. He also recommended hitting them with a heavy book.
© Shutterstock
18 / 31 Fotos
Treat colic with "soothing syrup"
- Between the mid-1800s and early 1900s, Mrs. Winslow's Soothing Syrup, sold for 25 cents, was advertised for colic, teething, and pain relief. It worked due to its high morphine content.
© Getty Images
19 / 31 Fotos
Treat syphilis with mercury
- From the 16th to 20th centuries, mercury was used to treat syphilis and other ailments. Despite knowing of its toxicity, doctors continued using it, even in low doses, until the 18th century.
© Shutterstock
20 / 31 Fotos
Treat hay fever with cocaine
- Dr. Thomas Jefferson Ritter's 1910 book 'Mother’s Remedies' recommended remedies like spraying a "four-percent solution of cocaine" for hay fever.
© Getty Images
21 / 31 Fotos
Treat asthma with chloroform
- The book also suggests inhaling chloroform for asthma. Like cocaine, it was commonly used in the US as an anesthetic, though we now know chloroform is toxic.
© Getty Images
22 / 31 Fotos
Treat chapped hands with sour cream
- Dr. Ritter also recommended treating chapped hands by placing sour cream in a cloth, burying it overnight, and then applying the cream the next day after unearthing it.
© Shutterstock
23 / 31 Fotos
Treat ringworm with gunpowder and vinegar
- 'Mother's Remedies' suggests treating ringworm with a paste of gunpowder and vinegar, and then applying it until the infection disappears, even if multiple applications are needed.
© Shutterstock
24 / 31 Fotos
Use nux vomica for headaches
- Dr. Ritter recommended mixing a drop of tincture of nux vomica with water for certain headaches. Today, nux vomica is known as the primary source of strychnine, a toxic rat poison!
© Shutterstock
25 / 31 Fotos
Treat bruises with a powder made from human remains
- In the 16th and 17th centuries, human bodies were used in European remedies for ailments like headaches and bruises. Powdered remains were applied to the skin or ingested, used by figures like French King Francis I and Francis Bacon.
© Shutterstock
26 / 31 Fotos
Cure a hangover by eating pickled sheep's eyes
- During Genghis Khan's reign, Mongols ate pickled sheep's eyes for breakfast to cure hangovers. The tradition continues today, though it's now typically followed by a glass of tomato juice.
© Getty Images
27 / 31 Fotos
Treat cataracts with periwinkle flowers
- 'Bald's Leechbook,' a 10th-century medical text housed at the British Library, recommends using burnt periwinkle flowers and honey to treat cataracts.
© Getty Images
28 / 31 Fotos
Cure swollen eyes with the eyes of a crab
- According to the same text, swollen eyes were treated by removing a live crab's eyes, throwing the crab back in the water, and applying the eyes to the neck of the affected person.
© Getty Images
29 / 31 Fotos
Treat swollen body parts with a fox tooth
- Similarly, to heal swelling, 'Bald's Leechbook' advises removing a tooth from a live fox, securing it in fawn skin, and placing the skin on the swollen area. Sources: (Medical News Today) (Mental Floss) (Library of Congress)
© Getty Images
30 / 31 Fotos
Strange and dangerous medical treatments from history
When cures were stranger than the actual disease!
© <p>Getty Images</p>
Throughout history, medical practices have evolved dramatically, but not all treatments were based on science or logic. Many bizarre and downright strange remedies were once considered cutting-edge solutions to ailments. From ingesting questionable substances to performing painful or risky procedures, these historical treatments reflect the lengths to which people went in their quest for healing.
Click on to discover bizarre medical treatments from the past.
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