Naturally, medieval people were petrified of the Plague in the 14th century. The death toll was incredibly high, and they weren’t taking any chances. During this time, plenty of remedies for the plague were invented — only by today’s standards, they weren’t exactly effective. Some remedies were downright disgusting. Others were simply strange.
While there probably wasn’t an abundance of emeralds around, one remedy was to grind one up and drink it in a glass of wine. Another was to burn sweet-smelling herbs. The logic is easy to see. Sickness brings bad odors, so medieval folk thought that by burning sweet-smelling herbs, they’d get rid of the terrible smell and disease. While it mightn’t have fought the disease, at least the aromas were more pleasant.
Tooth Worms
The Middle Ages weren’t for the faint-hearted. Now, there’s no actual thing such as a tooth worm – we really hope so anyway – but during the medieval period, people believed in such. In fact, the tooth-worm myth was something these folk inherited from their ancient ancestors. They really believed that the cause of toothaches was because tooth worms lived inside human teeth. And they had just the cure.
Back then, people used to light a candle or a basic cigarette to smoke out the worm. Then, they’d hang their heads over a bowl of water where the worm would fall in. We’re betting that this wasn’t an effective remedy for toothache. It’s certainly a blessing to know that what really causes toothaches are cavities and periodontitis and not tooth worms.
Combs
Even medieval people combed their hair. Although we imagine it was much harder than combing one’s hair in the modern period. Interestingly, even ancient peoples combed their hair like the Egyptians and Scythians. Like their ancient ancestors, medieval folk didn’t have as great a range to groom themselves with, but they still wanted to look good.
Essential to grooming oneself was combing one’s tresses. Combs were used back then, but they didn’t use plastic or metal combs. Generally, people carved combs from horns, bone, or wood. The more uppity folks had lavish types that were made from ivory. Even though having an ivory comb beats having a plastic one, the plastic one does the trick.
Hot Pokers
All of us have at one time in our lives seen a scene in a movie where a flaming hot poker is used to burn away an infection. This practice is known as cauterizing a wound — and it was something they did during the Middle Ages. In fact, this treatment wasn’t only a medieval practice but an ancient one too.
Back then, people used to place a sheet of metal into a fire, and when it became red, it was hot enough to use. They then placed the red-hot poker over infected wounds to seal the wound. This wasn’t only used for infected wounds, but people also burned away their warts. Things have definitely looked up since the invention of penicillin.
Anti-Age Remedies
It turns out that it's not only modern people who are trying to turn the clock backward but also our medieval ancestors. They were just as worried about getting wrinkles and, in their own ways, tried to prevent them. Where we have anti-age creams, serums, and sun lotion, medieval folk had stinking iris.
The extract of stinking iris was used as an anti-aging serum. Women would apply the juice to their faces before sleeping. In the morning, they’d pull off the extract and rinse their faces, and be greeted by a much more youthful visage. Apparently, something in the juice of stinking iris would raise the skin and remove some of the wrinkles.