28 Disturbing Medical Treatments From The Past That Prove Just How Far Medicine Has Come

Ancient Egyptian murals reveal a breathtaking level of medical sophistication showcasing tools that remarkably resemble modern surgical instruments. At the Temple of Kom Ombo, intricate carvings display a comprehensive surgical kit including scalpels bone saws, dental forceps and suction scales

Mental illness got you down? It’s nothing a little 20th-century lobotomy can’t fix. Unfortunately, despite any real evidence supporting the procedure, this was doctors’ go-to cure. The main idea was that it targeted specific lobes in the brain, which would then “cure” patients of symptoms.

19th-century doctors used to prescribe cigarettes for a lot of respiratory troubles, including asthma. Technically, the boxes did state that they only provided temporary relief, but they also said anyone with hay fever or head colds could indulge, too. At least they specified that children under six should keep away.

Hydropathy was heavily used to treat mental illness, particularly in 19th- and early 20th-century psychiatric asylums across Europe and North America. Before modern psychiatric medications existed, alienists (early psychiatrists) viewed water treatments as a way to regulate bodily tempers, control behavior, and calm or stimulate the nervous system.

Highly agitated, manic, or violent patients were submerged in tubs of warm water for hours—or even days—at a time. Canvas covers were often strapped over the tub with only the patient's head poking out to prevent escape, using thermal regulation to sedate and exhaust the individual.

Depressed, anxious, or lethargic patients were tightly swaddled in ice-cold, wet bedsheets. The physical restraint combined with the intense shock to the circulatory system was believed to slow racing thoughts and induce calm.

Patients experiencing catatonia or severe apathy were blasted with high-pressure jets of alternating hot and cold water to "shock" their nervous system back into responsiveness.

Cobalt-60 therapy (often dubbed the "cobalt bomb") was a revolutionary form of external beam radiation therapy developed in Canada in 1951 to treat deep-seated cancerous tumors.

The machine used cobalt-60, a synthetic radioactive isotope, to emit high-energy gamma rays. These powerful rays penetrated deep into body tissue to destroy cancerous cells' DNA and stop tumor growth, while minimizing damage to healthy skin—a major limitation of earlier X-ray treatments.

Because cobalt-60 units were durable, reliable, and did not require complex electrical systems, they drastically increased global access to effective cancer care throughout the mid-20th century. Although modern linear accelerators (LINACs) have largely replaced cobalt units in high-income nations due to higher precision, cobalt-60 therapy laid the foundation for modern radiation oncology and remains in use worldwide today.

Early 20th-century energy tonics included radium-laced beverages sold in elegant glass bottles. The craze ended tragically when users, including a wealthy industrialist named Eben Byers, died from radiation poisoning due to prolonged consumption of the toxic drink.

Around the 16th century, one of the main treatments for the STD was using mercury ointments. A typical mercury treatment was described in modern terms as:

A patient undergoing the treatment was secluded in a hot, stuffy room, and rubbed vigorously with the mercury ointment several times a day. The massaging was done near a hot fire, which the sufferer was then left next to in order to sweat. This process went on for a week to a month or more, and would later be repeated if the disease persisted.

The University of Oxford explains that snails would do their slime walk over a wart, someone would stab the snail to death (with a thorn, typically), and then while the snail withered away and perished, so too would the wart.

The tobacco smoke enema, an insufflation of tobacco smoke into the rectum by enema, was a medical treatment employed by European physicians for a range of ailments.

This general tonic was first introduced in the 1700s by physician Thomas Fowler. It contained 1% potassium arsenite and was initially sold as a cure for syphilis and malaria. However, it also remained a sought-after solution for cholera and eczema—until it was eventually discontinued

A hydro-electric bath was a late 19th-century medical treatment that combined hydrotherapy with electricity. The patient sat submerged in an insulated wooden or porcelain tub filled with warm water while mild electrical currents were passed through the water and into their body.

Electrodes connected to a generator were placed at opposite ends of the tub or held directly by the patient. Because water acts as a conductor, the electric current distributed evenly across the skin rather than concentrating on a single spot, allowing practitioners to deliver higher voltage with minimal discomfort.

Proponents claimed the bath could cure a wide range of ailments, including rheumatism, paralysis, gout, chronic fatigue, and nerve disorders. However, poor voltage regulation made the procedure risky, occasionally causing severe electrical shocks or burns. By the early 20th century, modern pharmacology and safer medical equipment rendered the hydro-electric bath obsolete.

Waterboarding has become a well-known torture method that leaves its victims traumatized and fearful. But in the 1800s, the method was used as an attempt to rid people of their mental illness.

In Georgian England, wealthy patients could buy a fresh tooth extracted from someone desperate enough to sell theirs. The donor would wait outside the clinic, receiving payment before the tooth was handed over. This practice was part of the era’s dental treatment, where tooth transplantation was attempted despite significant risks such as infection and rejection—not to mention regret.

Bloodletting was actually one of the oldest remedies docs had. It traces back well over 3,000 years to the ancient Greeks and Romans. The idea was that by draining patients of blood, doctors would prevent or even cure disease. Even though it carried well into the 19th century, doctors eventually figured out that it’s more trouble than it’s worth.

Their reasoning was that the fatty particles in the cow's milk would change into “white corpuscles,” or what we call today white blood cells. The doctors' first patient survived a transfusion of 12 ounces of milk pumped into his body. However, the following five patients, mostly fighting tuberculosis, didn't survive their milk transfusions. They fell into a comatose state and died shortly after.

Thousands of years ago, if you got bit by a random dog, you couldn't simply go to the doctor and get an (albeit painful) shot.

Instead, ancient physicians had to do their best to come up with a remedy for a disease they very much didn't understand - rabies. This disease was particularly tricky because unlike other illnesses, which show symptoms right away, rabies could lay dormant for three months or even up to a year before making someone sick. This also meant that it was difficult to track any treatments to see what had actually helped.

So, doctors got creative. Pliny the Elder, a Roman philosopher, suggested that the person must catch the dog that bit them, remove some of its hair, burn it, then place the burnt hair on the bite wound.

If this sounds vaguely familiar, it's because this method is where the hangover cure phrase “hair of the dog that bit you” comes from.

While this may seem unpleasant, it's better than the ancient Chinese treatment for a dog bite: rubbing the brain of the recently [ended] dog on the wound.

Nightshade, a very poisonous plant, was once used to help with pain.

Ancient Greek physicians believed the uterus wandered through the body, causing hysteria. Their solution was to scent it back into place using sweet fumes that coaxed it downward. Conversely, foul odors drove it upward—or so they believed.

Biles have always been used in traditional Chinese medicine. Dating back to the 5th century, elephant bile was used to treat halitosis or bad breath.

While it seems a little counterintuitive, ancient Chinese doctors swore by it, diluting it with water and ordering their patients to gargle the mixture.

Python bile is a historical remedy from Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) used externally to treat genital ulcers, but it is not a recommended or safe treatment by modern medical standards.