Creepy Cures: Strange Medical Practices From History

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2 Oct 2024

Throughout human history, the quest for good health has led to some of the most bizarre, unsettling, and downright creepy medical practices. Before modern medicine developed the precise tools and knowledge we rely on today, healers often resorted to strange, superstitious, and sometimes dangerous methods to cure ailments. Many of these practices were based on limited scientific understanding or cultural beliefs, but they persisted for centuries, often causing more harm than good.

This article explores some of the most unsettling and peculiar medical practices from history, giving a glimpse into how far we’ve come in the world of healing.

Bloodletting: A Universal “Cure”

One of the most widespread and ancient medical practices was bloodletting. This method involved draining a certain amount of a patient’s blood, based on the belief that it would balance the body's “humors”—blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile. These humors were thought to govern both physical and mental health, and an imbalance was believed to cause illness.

The Process
Bloodletting could be performed in various ways, such as using leeches to suck out the blood or making incisions in the skin with a lancet. Leeches were especially popular in the 19th century, while earlier physicians would often use a knife or specialized tools to open veins.

Harmful Effects
While the procedure was intended to restore health, it often weakened patients significantly. Bloodletting was used to treat a wide range of ailments—from headaches to fevers to infections—without any real understanding of its consequences. Some patients bled to death, while others became anemic or more susceptible to infection.

Famous Patients
George Washington is a well-known example of a victim of excessive bloodletting. When the first U.S. president contracted a severe throat infection in 1799, his doctors bled him repeatedly in an attempt to cure him. He died shortly after, raising the possibility that the aggressive treatment hastened his demise.

Trepanation: Drilling Into the Skull

Trepanation, one of the earliest known surgical procedures, involved drilling or scraping a hole into the skull. The purpose? To release "evil spirits," cure seizures, migraines, or treat head injuries. Archaeological evidence shows that trepanation was practiced as early as 7,000 years ago in various cultures across the world, including ancient Egypt, Peru, and Greece.

The Belief
Ancient cultures believed that mental illness, headaches, and even some physical ailments were caused by evil spirits trapped inside the skull. By creating an opening in the head, they believed they were giving these malevolent forces an exit point, thus curing the patient.

Surprisingly Effective
Despite how gruesome the practice sounds, some evidence suggests that many patients survived the procedure. In ancient Peru, for example, there are skulls with signs of healing around the trepanned area, indicating that the patient lived for some time after the operation. However, for many, trepanation led to infections and death.

Modern Echoes
Though trepanation is no longer used as a mainstream medical procedure, a small number of people today still advocate for it, believing it can expand consciousness or relieve pressure inside the skull. These fringe beliefs are not supported by scientific evidence.

Mummy Medicine: Consuming the Dead

In the Middle Ages and Renaissance, European physicians prescribed a truly macabre remedy: the consumption of human remains. Ground-up mummies, human bones, flesh, and even blood were ingested as medicine, believed to cure everything from epilepsy to internal bleeding. This practice, known as “corpse medicine,” became widespread, especially during the 16th and 17th centuries.

Mummy Powder
Mummies imported from Egypt were highly valued as a medical resource. The mummified bodies were ground into powder and used in various concoctions. People believed that these ancient remains had absorbed mystical powers over time, making them potent for curing ailments.

Cannibalistic Medicine
Not only were mummies consumed, but fresh human blood was also used in certain treatments. In the case of epileptics, it was believed that drinking the blood of a recently deceased person would help prevent seizures. Some even sought out the blood of executed criminals for its supposed purity.

Cultural Impact
This practice had a long-lasting influence, and traces of corpse medicine can still be found in European folklore and old medical texts. Its use persisted until the 18th century, when scientific advances and ethical considerations led to its decline.

Mercury and Arsenic: Poisonous Potions

In an era where the toxicity of chemicals was not fully understood, mercury and arsenic were common ingredients in medical treatments. These substances were believed to have curative properties and were used to treat everything from syphilis to indigestion.

Mercury’s Role in Syphilis Treatment
During the Renaissance, syphilis was a rampant and poorly understood disease. One of the most common treatments involved rubbing mercury ointment onto the skin or ingesting mercury pills. Mercury, however, is a highly toxic element, and this treatment often caused severe poisoning, leading to neurological damage, kidney failure, and even death.

Arsenic as a Beauty and Medical Aid
Arsenic was used not only as a poison but also as a medicine and beauty aid. It was believed that small doses of arsenic could treat illnesses like malaria and syphilis, and it was even applied to the skin to lighten the complexion. However, arsenic is deadly, and long-term exposure led to numerous deaths.

Enduring Popularity
Despite the well-known dangers, both mercury and arsenic remained in use well into the 19th century. Mercury-based treatments continued to be prescribed for various conditions, and arsenic was sold in small amounts for skin treatments.

Conclusion

The history of medicine is filled with strange and terrifying practices that highlight the lengths humans have gone to in the name of healing. From bloodletting to trepanation, these bizarre medical treatments remind us how much we’ve learned—and how much we still have to discover—about the human body and mind. While these practices may seem outlandish today, they were once viewed as cutting-edge medicine. Understanding these historical approaches gives us greater appreciation for the advancements in medical science that we benefit from today.