There are many things we can thank our ancestors for including the wheel, farming techniques, the invention of the car, and most recently, the development of the Internet and portable technology. However, there are some ancient practices we should be thankful we left behind in the olden days. This includes ancient medical practices, so say goodbye to medical blister packaging and pharmaceutical serialization solutions, and hello to no pain medication or legitimate doctors.
Here are some of the craziest ancient medical practices our ancestors ever used.
Cutting teeth
We all know that it is extremely painful for babies when their teeth start to grow in. In an attempt to prevent this pain, a doctor in France started to actually cut the gum tissue of children to give more space for their teeth to grow in. This practice actually grew in popularity all throughout Europe in the late 1500s, and was performed until the early 20th century despite strong criticism.
Mouse paste
This practice was famous in Ancient Egypt for those who suffered from common ailments like a toothache or a headache, no pharmaceutical blister packaging required! Dead mice would be crushed and applied to the sensitive area, and in cases of severe pain an entire dead mouse would be applied directly to the mouth.
Eating clay
In many Greek countries, it was a common practice to consume clay and clay-based products in order to help heal stomach pains. Their belief was that the detoxing properties of the clay would help to eliminate waste from the sick’s body.
Tongue removal
Many countries in Europe practiced the removal of a tongue in order to prevent oral cancer. The idea behind this is simple, if you do not have a tongue then you will not be able to develop cancer or suffer from chronic pain. While this treatment does work well, it causes the patient to speak and eat with great difficulty.
Castration
In order to promote male harems, ancient Babylonians would crush a male’s testicles so no children would be produced accidentally. The idea of having male eunuchs was such a revered place in society, men would go to any lengths to become one. Find out more about this topic here.
