13 Medical Drawings from When Doctors Were Just Trying Anything
The medical field has come a long way.
Long before ‘doctor’ was a job you could have, people were trying to fix health problems with outrageous, usually gruesome methods. And even once doctors came around, it took a while for things to get better.
It turns out that back in the day, you could kind of just do whatever. Blowing tobacco smoke up your patient’s butt with a long tube? Totally fine, and in fact, patients probably begged you to do it. Sick of that hypochondriac coming into your office every day with a headache? Just drill a hole in his head.
It wasn’t until modern times that doctors realized that life is precious and that maybe monkey testicles shouldn’t be involved in a checkup.
1. Bloodletting
![](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,<svg height="522.344827586207px" width="700px" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" version="1.1"/>)
Many maladies were thought to be caused by an imbalance of liquids in the human body, which was cured by draining the patient’s blood.
2. Cauterizing Hemorrhoids
![](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,<svg height="344.70314318975556px" width="700px" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" version="1.1"/>)
12th-century surgeons would treat hemorrhoids by burning them away with a hot iron.
3. Cannibalism
![](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,<svg height="660.8695652173913px" width="700px" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" version="1.1"/>)
Ground-up corpses and Egyptian mummies were eaten in the 16th and 17th centuries to stop internal bleeding.
4. Dislocated Jaw
![](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,<svg height="903.6999999999999px" width="700px" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" version="1.1"/>)
If your jaw was dislocated, the doctor would just get in there and mess around!
5. Hydropathy
![](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,<svg height="391.84782608695656px" width="700px" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" version="1.1"/>)
Cold water was poured over the heads of women to attempt to cure them of hysteria.
![](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,<svg height="933.9024390243902px" width="700px" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" version="1.1"/>)
7. Hydrotherapy
![](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,<svg height="393.75px" width="700px" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" version="1.1"/>)
In the 1800s, patients with arthritis were force-fed water through a hose. It was believed this water would pump the poisons out of their body.
8. Putrefied Whale
![](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,<svg height="454.58984375px" width="700px" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" version="1.1"/>)
One treatment for rheumatoid arthritis in the late 1800s was to cut up the body of a dead whale and have the patient lie inside a narrow hole in the carcass for around two hours.
9. Rhinoplasty
![](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,<svg height="1024px" width="670px" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" version="1.1"/>)
An early form of plastic surgery where a new nose was created for a patient out of arm tissue. The skin grafted-on was still connected to the arm and would stay connected for about three weeks.
10. Tobacco Smoke Enema
![](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,<svg height="367.9245283018868px" width="700px" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" version="1.1"/>)
In the 18th century, tobacco smoke enemas were used to treat everything from colds to cholera.
![](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,<svg height="418.25168107588854px" width="700px" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" version="1.1"/>)
12. Xenotransplantation
![](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,<svg height="870.3020134228187px" width="700px" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" version="1.1"/>)
A drawing from the 1700s of a man being infused with lamb’s blood to ‘improve his character.’ Men’s testicles were also sometimes replaced with monkey testicles.
13. Trepanation
![](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,<svg height="510.53333333333336px" width="700px" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" version="1.1"/>)
In the 15th century, it was believed that madness, idiocy and dementia were caused by a “stone of madness” inside the brain. This ‘stone’ was removed by drilling into the patient’s skull.
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