People have always needed medical assistance for as long as they have existed. Our forefathers had knowledge so profound that even modern doctors couldn’t break it. If you occasionally express dissatisfaction with modern physicians and medical methods, consider yourself fortunate that you do not live in the past. However, most of the medical methods used in the past were bizarre, if not hazardous.
Viraltrendzs carried out a study into a few of them and wanted to share the results with you.
1. A tobacco smoke enema was a very common therapy.
Digestion issues, somnolence, stomach pains, and parasites were cured with tobacco smoke enema, which is a treatment acquired from North American Indians. However, when it was recognized that tobacco contained lethal nicotine in the 19th century, these enemas fell out of favor.
2. They used a technique called skull trephination.
Doctors used to treat headaches, epilepsy, and other psychiatric problems by drilling holes in their patients’ skulls.The oldest surgical procedure is trephination. Human remains from the Neolithic period were also discovered to be proof. Ancient American Tribes frequently employed this medical method during the Renaissance.
3. Used Snake venom and deadly plants.
People sought to combat diseases before antibiotics. They used cures based on plant poisons and viper venoms. Small proteins termed disintegrins were discovered to be the cause of their antibacterial effects by modern scientists.
Cannabis, opium, and henbane were all used in ancient Egypt. Doctors included dried snakes and scorpions to their remedies in the Middle Ages.
4. Almost all illnesses were treated with bloodletting.
In India and the Arab world, bloodletting was very frequent. This medical method was mentioned in Greek and Egyptian documents as well.
Blood was considered to have “bad humor,” which had to be expelled in order for the sick to be healed. Barbers were in charge of bloodletting throughout the Middle Ages. It was popular until the mid-nineteenth century. Although George Washington died afterward, his tonsillitis was also healed in this manner.
5. They used holy water and physical exercises to heal chronic illnesses.
During Hippocrates’ time (460-370 BC), they believed that God’s will is bringing up epilepsy. He believed that the reasons for this illness were wind, cold, and sun. In the Middle Ages, they considered that demons were abducting people with epilepsy and so they treated them with prayers and holy water.
Ancient doctors used healing herbs and physical exercises to cure diabetics. But the patients usually died as the treatments were ineffective.
They considered skin diseases like psoriasis as incurable diseases. Patients had to wear a bell to warn others to stay away.
6. They employed juniper and mandrake extractions as anesthetic agents.
Our forefathers and mothers excelled at the surgery. Doctors in ancient Mesopotamia utilized wine and opium to make patients feel pain-free.
In ancient Egypt, they produced mandrake fruit extracts. Aconite was used as anesthetics in India and China, juniper, cannabis. It is hard to say how effective they were.
7. Mothers gave birth to their babies standing or sitting on their haunches.
They understood how to alter the position of the fetus in utero in ancient India. Healers in certain African tribes were able to conduct a cesarean section with their primitive instruments.
Throughout the medieval period, due to the church’s influence, the bulk of old knowledge was lost. Many mothers and their infants perished during childbirth as midwifery was undeveloped at the time.
8. Toothaches were healed by smoking goat fat.
People understood how to create tooth fillings and prostheses even in ancient times. A human tooth was discovered in Italy with indications of dental treatment and was estimated to be 14,000 years old.
Some of the old methods were unique. As a dental therapy, Avicenna suggested smoking the patient with a flaming combination of goat fat, henbane, and onion. Pliny the Elder believed that capturing a toad at midnight, spitting in its mouth, and speaking specific “healing” words was the only method to get rid of toothache.
