Weird and Horrifying Medical Practices

Have you ever wondered what medicine was like even in the 19th century? Well, wonder no more. Let's dive into some pretty weird and/or scary medical practices from years past.

1. Waterboarding. In today’s day and age, we would associate waterboarding with a form a torture. And that’s not entirely wrong. It’s supposed to give the sensation of drowning. But way back when - before it was right out banned - it was used in mental hospitals as a form of hydrotherapy, also called the “water cure.” In many instances, the staff would hold the patients underwater until they lost consciousness. Provided that the patient could be revived, they’d be considered cured of whatever madness they were suffering from. There was also evidence that reclined patients would be dunked or showered without warning. There was no evidence or even flawed logic to back up how this was supposed to help whatsoever.
2. Malaria, but on purpose. This illness is already awful, starting with things like fever, vomiting, and diarrhea. So it’s almost unimaginable to get the mosquito-borne illness on purpose. In 1917, Austrian doctor Julius Wagner-Juaregg came up with the idea to inject syphilis patients with malaria. Almost like a “fight fire with fire” mindset. He believed that by doing so, those with untreated syphilis will no longer suffer with the psychosis and decreasing cognitive function brought on by the disease. Surprisingly, though, it appeared to work, only killing about 15% of patients treated this way. Dr. Wagner-Juaregg won a nobel prize in 1927 for his discovery. That being said, the medical field has come far enough along that doctors can detect it earlier and it is now significantly more treatable.
3. Bloodletting. Now this one is interesting because it is still used today, but in a different capacity. When it was first used, it could be equated with modern phlebotomy. Practitioners would or puncture patients to bleed the patients into a vessel. The blood would then be tasted for disease before being destroyed, buried, or blessed - depending on the era and/or beliefs. This is one of those medical procedures where it was clear they were on the right track about it, but has since been improved upon. Today we use needles and have labs that do the testing for us. So no more putting other people’s blood in our mouths.
4. Leech therapy. You could argue that this is just an extension of the previous one as it still has to do with bloodwork. They would attach leeches to you to help get rid of any bad blood in your system. In theory, these animals would cure you of your ailment. While still used today, it was of course discovered that it doesn’t help cure you of something like headaches or stomach bugs. From what I was able to find, today’s usage of leech therapy helps more with blood flow. Especially after surgeries, like skin grafts and chest work to help ensure the skin or nipples don’t die.
5. Trepanation. To put it simply, they used to drill holes in the heads of patients. And it appeared to be a widespread practice, occurring over the course of thousands of years evidenced by skulls found around the world. It is believed to have been used for multiple purposes such as a misshapen skull and epilepsy. In multiple skulls, holes appeared to be around the same place modern neurosurgeons will bore for certain procedures. This has led many to believe that some understood to an extent that this practice helped alleviate pressure and were able to successfully use it.
6. Milk transfusions. There were a few different types of blood transfusions that came about before we got the kind we know today. In the modern age, we know that human blood should go inside human veins. But back before all that, milk really was one of the things doctors used for this kind of procedure. Though, the liquid was used as a substitute somewhat recently - the late 19th century in fact. It was believed that milk was the perfect placeholder because the fatty/oil qualities would become white blood cells. It’s hard to find evidence of any of these transfusions being successful as most of the patients died after. Even one of the more “successful” ones didn’t end well. The milk injection immediately dropped the patient’s pulse. They were revived through a morphine and whiskey cocktail. They unfortunately died ten days after the transfusion.
7. Mrs Winslow’s Soothing Syrup. This remedy was recommended for children, especially those suffering anything from teething to diarrhea. And it appeared to work well for the young ones whose teeth were coming in. Given that the ingredients included morphine and alcohol, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that it worked well. The label on the packaging read, “should always be used for children teething. It soothes the child, softens the gums, allays the pain, cures wind colic, and is the best remedy for diarrhoea.” The soothing syrup, along with others similar, was later condemned when it was revealed that kids were dying after taking the syrup.
8. Chloroform and cigarettes. These are technically two different “medications,” but they were used for the same ailment: asthma. It was claimed that chloroform could cure asthma with just one dose. Unfortunately, it sometimes worked a little too well as many ended up overdosing during an attack. Which, in a way, did exactly what it promised. Just maybe not in the way that was expected. Cigarettes were a slightly different story. It might have not been known that chloroform would end in death. However, it was even known back then that smoking wasn’t great for those who had asthma. It seems like these claims were more to push sales of cigarettes.
9. Bee venom therapy. This therapy involves being willingly stung by a bee or injected with bee venom and dates back to Ancient Greece. Hippocrates believed that the venom aided in relieving at least some of pain associated with arthritis and other joint issues. And it seems like he was onto something. According to a 2016 study, it’s believed that part of the reason why it helps is because bee venom contains melittin - a chemical thought to have anti-inflammatory properties. Bee venom therapy is still used today, namely arthritis and multiple sclerosis. However, while it might help a few people, there is very little scientific evidence that this is effective for either condition.
10. Heroin. In the late 1880s, heroin was introduced as a cure for coughing and advertised as a non-addictive alternative to morphine. Of course, it was soon discovered that it was just as addictive, but many still used it. Heroin was allegedly five times more effective on top of its alleged lack of addictiveness. The pharmaceutical company Bayer advertised aspirin laced with the drug in 1898, marketing towards kids suffering with sore throats, colds, and coughs. Physicians began questioning the non-addictive claims when patients kept coming back for bottle after bottle. Despite the increasing negative side effects and pushback from doctors, Bayer continued selling the product until 1913. It wasn’t until a whole eleven years later that the FDA finally banned heroin altogether.