The road to modern medicine has not been entirely smooth. Things have really changed in medicine since the early 20th century and you should be thankful for that! Along the course of history, there has been no shortage of strange, bizarre, and macabre medical practices to horrify us to this day.
Health cure in the Institut Finsen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Some of the stranger treatments of old-time medicine would turn out to be useful; while numerous others turned out to cause more harm than good (and a lot more harm in many cases). Let’s reflect on just how far we’ve come in the name of science by looking through these 35 old photographs showing the horrible procedures of treatment, terrifying medical instruments, and haunting medical devices people suffered through in the 20th century:
A woman inside an Electric Bath at the Light Care Institute, circa 1900.
A woman inspects an Electric Bath at the Light Care Institute. The Electric Bath is probably a forerunner of the modern sunbed, although it was more likely used for medicinal reasons, circa 1900.
Medical office in a hospital train, circa 1900.
Partially dissected cadavers on tables in the dissecting room at the Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, PA, circa 1902.
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