The Craziest Medical Practices Doctors Thought Made Sense

Modern medicine has seen more development in the past fifty years than in all of human history combined. Many long practiced medical treatments now seem completely insane in retrospect - things like putting animal dung on a wound, drinking urine, carving holes in your skull, or drinking potions made of morphine or mercury. What are the craziest medical practices from all of human history? What was once used as medicine but was later found to be, well, actually super dangerous?

There were lots of weird things used as medicine before the advent of modern science. However, some of these practices continue in one form or another - no matter how crazy they are, if something works, doctors are going to keep doing it.

Here are some of the dangerous medical practices from yonder days, a few of which survive in some form, and some others which almost certainly killed those who partook in them. Upvote the medical treatments that you think are the most nuts and are glad that went by the wayside, thanks to scientific advancements and modern medicine.

Sex with a Virgin

The troubling myth that someone infected with a “social disease” can transfer it to a virgin through sex dates back to at least the 16th Century, when the practice was first documented in relation to powerful men trying to rid themselves of syphilis and gonorrhea. Sadly, this ridiculous superstition continues in some parts of the developing world, especially Africa, leading to many cases of reported child rape.

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Intentional Malaria Infection

Intentional Malaria Infe... is listed (or ranked) 2 on the list The Craziest Medical Practices Doctors Thought Made Sense — Photo: CDC/Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain

An early version of “chicken pox parties” involved intentionally infecting syphilis patients with malaria. The theory was that the fever produced by the malaria would kill off the syphilis, and that the malaria would then be cleared up through some other terrible treatment. In reality, the malaria usually just killed the person who had the syphilis.

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Dead Mouse Cures

Dead mice were used for medicinal purposes all the way back in Ancient Egypt, where they’d be blended with other compounds to ease toothache pain. Later, the English in the time of Elizabeth I cured their warts by cutting a mouse in half and applying it to the spots. Bits of dead mice were also used to treat whooping cough, measles, smallpox, and bed-wetting – all to varying degrees of success.

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Lobotomy

Early 20th century doctors were totally unprepared for the onslaught of patients with mental illness that flooded hospitals at the time. One treatment that became popular in the 1930s was lobotomy, the removal of parts of the brain in order to curb depressive symptoms.

Even at the time, it was acknowledged that this was a dangerous procedure that often left patients with permanent disability - not to mention the destruction of their ability to function in society, their memories, and their personalities. Still, over 40,000 people were lobotomized in the US, often without consent. The procedure declined as ECT and medication became more popular.

Is this crazy?