We are all aware that medicine has advanced dramatically over the last fifty years. There are several modern medical approaches available today, but this was not always the case. However, the past of medicine is a dark one. Medical leeches, lobotomy, vascular surgery, cranial stenosis, and even electroshock therapy are all options. These are only a couple of the cruel healing techniques that are still in use today.
10. Electroshock therapy
Fortunately, we only saw this technique in movies when a current was introduced to patients in a mental hospital. At first sight, this seems to be torturing patients, but it is actually a very successful procedure.
9. Skulling (Trepanation)
Drilling holes in people’s skulls is still practiced today, although it’s commonly referred to as a craniotomy. In this process, a surgeon removes a slice of the skull to enter the brain in order to treat disorders such as brain lesions and brain tumors, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. The skull fragment is covered as soon as possible.
8. Bloodletting (Phlebotomy)
It was also used in ancient Egypt to get rid of excess blood. At the time, it was thought that an imbalance in body fluids caused diseases, so vascular cutting was needed. This technique was used in the nineteenth and even twentieth centuries, but its usefulness had already been brought into question.
7. Medical leeches
Medical leeches are not dangerous, in fact, their saliva contains sixty kinds of proteins that inhibit blood clotting, increase blood flow and anesthetize. Leech saliva was used in surgeries to minimize inflammation and prevent blood clots from developing.
6. Larval therapy
(Warning, You may see a disturbing pictures if you search this one)
Larval therapy is a much more repulsive treatment than leeches, but it is just as successful. Fly larvae that settle in the wound aids in the healing process. These larvae consume dead tissue, assisting the damaged area to recover as quickly as possible. Bone-to-bone wound infections experienced rapid healing and decreased infection in 1929. However, after WWII, penicillin took the place of larval therapy. However, larvae are still used in the treatment of abscesses to this day.
5. Intestinal worm diet
Beauty expectations are still evolving, but they are no longer as harmful as they once were. While arsenic-dyed clothing and painful corsets are no longer in use, the intestinal worm diet is still prevalent. Despite its effectiveness in weight loss, this procedure is illegal in most countries due to the numerous health risks. Tapeworm eggs are consumed, and the growing animal digests the carbohydrates. When the subject achieved the desired weight, the animal had to be removed from the body, which could only be done under medical supervision and with medication.
4. Cauterization
The technique has been practiced for over three thousand years. Closing surgeries are thought to be a normal operation. Cauterization with a heated metal piece was extremely painful and caused extensive tissue damage, but it also stopped the bleeding and disinfected the wound. Wound burning was also used in the Middle Ages, but it was also used to cure mental illness. Wound suturing did not begin until the 16th century, but it quickly spread throughout the world.
3. Bee venom
Bee Venom Therapy is a centuries-old treatment. Bee venom, which includes a mixture of proteins, amino acids, and enzymes that can induce and reduce inflammation, has been used to treat bee problems. Melittin has antibacterial and antiviral properties. However, since the findings were questionable, this treatment was also not medically accepted. Intentional bee pinching, on the other hand, is still used to relieve joint and muscle pain.
2. Stool transplantation
The origin of the process can be traced back to ancient India. Cow feces have been proposed as a treatment for certain intestinal problems. He used it to treat food poisoning, and the Bedouins used camel stools for this purpose. About 1950, Western medicine began to address this cure, and it is now a well-understood procedure. The method, predictably, triggered disgust, making it difficult to spread. In certain diseases, the intestinal flora is depleted to such a degree that healthy bacteria will be brought back. It is now performed by enema and should not be taken orally as it was previously.
1. Lobotomy
After removal of the frontal lobe, the experimental monkeys calmed down, so the treatment was also tried on humans. Under anesthesia, the connection between a patient’s forehead and the rest of his brain was broken. The method proved promising but caused paralysis, loss of consciousness, and catatonia. It became popular in the ’40s with dangerous or violent patients struggling with rage. Later, the procedure, which was performed through the eye cavity, could be performed without anesthesia and surgery. Lobotomy was banned in the ’50s but was still used in many countries. It is still used today, but only in patients who are not helped by any other therapy.
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