5 Old-Timey Medical Treatments That Actually Work

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.

 

2025 PopSci Best of What’s New

The 50 most important innovations of the year

See it