20 Fascinating and Forgotten Medical Techniques

zachnading Published 12/28/2022 in wtf

We tend to forget that it took a lot of trial and error, and frankly a lot of time to get to where we are in terms of the medical field.

Thanks to History Daily, we've collected some of the most interesting and somewhat frightening medical methods from our past.

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1.
The gentleman's guide to amputation always ended with a brandy.
2.
It was tradition in the old days to pose deceased family members up for one last photo.
3.
Doctors used to think that combining electric and water was helpful in healing arthritis.
4.
Early versions of the flu mask.
5.
Before electricity, early dental drills were powered by a foot pedal.
6.
A woman inhales gas that supposedly helped get rid of flu symptoms.
7.
Children line up to take their dose of fish oil.
8.
"Female remedy" was basically a tonic that supposedly helped menstrual cramps.
9.
The iron lung. Machines used for treating Polio patients.
10.
A leeching kit complete with burning pencil and canisters to put the leeches.
11.
An early lotion used for 'removing' freckles and blemishes from the face.
12.
Plague masks used by doctors would hold different scents inside the large nose pieces.
13.
A polio respiratory device.
14.
The first woman to graduate dental school.
15.
'Murder Bottles' became popular after women stopped breast-feeding because of the growing popularity of corsets. Unfortunately the bottles quickly began gathering bacteria and the rest is history.
16.
An early prosthetic leg.
17.
An early cure to winter rickets was thought to be tanning babies.
18.
A stretching machine thought to make humans taller.
19.
A blood transfusion bottle.
20.
One of the first X-Ray machines.

1.
The gentleman's guide to amputation always ended with a brandy.
2.
It was tradition in the old days to pose deceased family members up for one last photo.
3.
Doctors used to think that combining electric and water was helpful in healing arthritis.
4.
Early versions of the flu mask.
5.
Before electricity, early dental drills were powered by a foot pedal.
6.
A woman inhales gas that supposedly helped get rid of flu symptoms.
7.
Children line up to take their dose of fish oil.
8.
"Female remedy" was basically a tonic that supposedly helped menstrual cramps.
9.
The iron lung. Machines used for treating Polio patients.
10.
A leeching kit complete with burning pencil and canisters to put the leeches.
11.
An early lotion used for 'removing' freckles and blemishes from the face.
12.
Plague masks used by doctors would hold different scents inside the large nose pieces.
13.
A polio respiratory device.
14.
The first woman to graduate dental school.
15.
'Murder Bottles' became popular after women stopped breast-feeding because of the growing popularity of corsets. Unfortunately the bottles quickly began gathering bacteria and the rest is history.
16.
An early prosthetic leg.
17.
An early cure to winter rickets was thought to be tanning babies.
18.
A stretching machine thought to make humans taller.
19.
A blood transfusion bottle.
20.
One of the first X-Ray machines.