Thanks to vast improvements in hygiene, pharmaceuticals, and surgical techniques and devices, medical treatments today tend to be significantly less painful—and less deadly—than they were a century ago. Though the cures of yesteryear often seem brutally primitive, some, like the five treatments in this gallery, stand on solid science.
Harris A EwingOtis Historical Archives National Museum of Health and MedicineGuillaume van den Bossche, 1639Advertisement in the New-York Tribune, 1913Ward Building, State Sanatorium, Glencliff, New Hampshire, 1909
2025 PopSci Outdoor Gift Guide
20+ editor-approved presents for the hikers on your list
