1. The Poo Ointment
2. Leech Therapy
Leeches were key to the bloodletting process, and through the ages, have been used as a treatment for infection, skin diseases, dental afflictions, and nervous system abnormalities. But perhaps their most miraculous attribute has kept them relevant in today's medicine—leeches secrete specific peptides and proteins that increase wound blood flow, by preventing clotting. Written in 'Ayurveda', the oldest known book on medicine, leech therapy can treat everything from cancer, arthritis, hemorrhoids, high blood pressure to heart disease.
3. Trepanning
When you have a migraine, do you ever feel like a nice hole in the head would help? Well, many of our historic ancestors felt drilling an opening into the skull was a reasonable way to treat pain and neurological issues. Surgery actually resulted in fewer deaths than you might think, despite the brain being left exposed. The earliest indications of trepanation date back 7,000 years ago, particularly in Greece, Africa, Polynesia, and even America, but the shocking practice trailed on into the early 1900s.
4. Tapeworm Diet
5. Corpse Medicine
There's nothing like winding down with a cocktail garnished with human skull. Wait, what? From the Romans to England's King Charles II, various cannibalistic preparations were thought to be healing and restorative. Egyptian tombs were often looted, so the inhabitant could be ground into corpse medicine. Richard Sugg, a professor at Durham University, who's written extensively on the subject stated, "The human body has been widely used as a therapeutic agent with the most popular treatments involving flesh, bone, or blood. Cannibalism was found not only in the New World, as often believed, but also in Europe."
6. Fart Sniffing
Desperate times call for desperate measures. When the Black Death was ravaging London in the 1600s, physicians turned to bodily fumes. Experts claimed potent gas could counteract plague exposure, so residents either huffed farts from jars, or kept a stinky animal inside their home. Considering the widespread devastation of the Bubonic plague, it's safe to say this one didn't work.
7. Mouse Paste
Ancient Egyptians explored seemingly every possible method to discover cures, and that included using a paste of dead mice to treat coughs, toothaches and other ailments. And how did England treat warts back in the late 1500s? Mice were cut in half and placed over the afflicted area. Luckily for mice, these methods have faded.
8. Soothing Syrup
9. Vaginal Incense
A slew of strange treatments were used to treat vaginal issues in ancient Egyptian times, including the insertion of incense. Considering onions were also inserted to determine pregnancy (if the smell came through on a woman's breath upon morning, it was assumed she was pregnant), it's possible it was used as an air freshener for the delicate region.
10. Maggots
Since before the Civil War, maggots were used to treat infected wounds, because they will only eat dying tissue, while healthy tissue is preserved. The treatment is so effective, it is still found in modern medicine. In a time where antibiotics don't always work, these little fly babies could save your life.
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