In Turkey, treating skin diseases (like psoriasis) with live fish is relatively common. The patient immerses the affected area of ​​his body in water with fish swimming in it, and they eat up the dead cells with great pleasure, leaving healthy skin untouched. The small fish garra rufa is especially famous for its healing talents. After a course of treatment with such doctors with red tail fins, the condition of the patients improves for six months, or even more. It is not surprising that Turkey has introduced a ban on the export of these valuable fish.

Bee venom against arthritis

Bee stings, of course, are quite painful, but they can relieve inflammation of the joints due to rheumatoid arthritis. In a number of alternative medicines, including traditional Chinese, the stings of live bees are used to treat not only arthritis, but also shingles and eczema.

In 2010, an experiment conducted by specialists from the University of Sao Paulo showed that bee venom actually contains a huge amount of substances that prevent the development of inflammatory processes. Actually, with this, scientists only confirmed what practitioners have known for several centuries. In addition, studies have shown that bee sting can not only relieve the symptoms of arthritis, but even prevent their occurrence!

Snake massage

One of the most unusual types of massage was mastered in Israel. Here, six snakes are placed on the backs of clients at a time, and different species are used - from the California kingsnake and spotted climbing snake to the cross-striped kingsnake.

Large reptiles relieve deep muscle cramps and pain, smaller ones create the effect of light vibration. A snake massage session in the salon costs $70, but they say there is no end to those interested.

Larvae for surgical treatment of wounds

Carnivorous insect larvae are placed directly into the open wound, where they begin to eat the rotting flesh, leaving healthy areas untouched. This is a great advantage of larvae - in order to clean the wound, surgeons have to remove healthy tissue; as a result, the wound becomes even larger and the bleeding intensifies, not to mention the pain that the patient has to endure.

Research conducted in France in 2012 suggests that maggot therapy can reduce both the duration of treatment and its cost by several (up to ten) times.

Dolphins against depression and autism

Dolphins are a symbol of peace and serenity for many world cultures. However, it is still a mystery why simply being around them helps with some forms of mental illness.

A 2005 study at the University of Leicester (England) showed that short sessions with dolphins significantly improved the condition of depressed patients after just two weeks. The same treatment is very effective in treating children with autism who have difficulty with verbal communication.

Swallowing live fish for asthma

Another method of fish treatment is practiced by the Bathini Goud brothers from India. Every year, thousands of asthma sufferers come to them, each of whom the brothers (completely free of charge) give to swallow a live fish called “Asian snakehead”, after putting a certain plant mixture in the fish’s mouth, the composition of which is kept in the strictest confidence. This secret, according to the Bathini Goud family legend, was revealed to their ancestor by a saint 160 years ago - on the condition that it be kept secret. “The medicine will lose its power if it becomes a means of profit,” the brothers say.

Dogs against diabetes and epilepsy

Some sense organs are much better developed in dogs than in humans. Research shows that many of them can smell when the blood sugar level of their owner is greatly reduced or, on the contrary, increases and his condition becomes dangerous. Dogs can even be specially trained to recognize the signs of an impending epilepsy attack, warn their owners and bring them medicine. The help of dogs is especially helpful when it comes to sick children who may not wake up at night when hyperglycemia or hypoglycemia occurs. If there is such a dog in the house, moms and dads do not need to set an alarm to check on their child every couple of hours.

The phrase became: “Do no harm.”

But in the recent past, doctors and other specialists often resorted to quite questionable treatment methods, including those that we now consider ineffective and sometimes dangerous.

The history of medicine has seen the use of many strange tonics, drugs and treatments, ranging from mercury to heroin.

History of medicine

1. Moldy bread

Moldy bread was used in ancient Egypt to disinfect cuts. Even though this sounds like a crazy treatment, it actually makes some sense. As the famous French microbiologist later discovered Louis Pasteur, some types of fungi inhibit the growth of disease-causing bacteria, such as penicillin.

2. Methamphetamine

This method became popular thanks to Adolf Hitler, who was a hypochondriac. His doctor gave him vitamin injections, sometimes laced with the drug methamphetamine. The injections kept the Fuhrer "energetic, alert, active, talkative and allowed him to stay awake for many hours at night."

3. Gases in a jar

In the Middle Ages, doctors believed that “like cures like” and during the plague, which was believed to be caused by deadly fumes, some doctors advised storing intestinal gases in a jar and inhaling them more often.

4. Dead mouse paste

Ancient Egyptians rubbed a paste of dead mice along with other ingredients to treat toothaches.

But the Egyptians were not the only ones who resorted to treatment with mice. So in the Elizabethan era in England, a mouse cut in half was applied to warts. Mice have also been used to treat whooping cough, measles, smallpox, and bedwetting.

5. Crocodile excrement

In ancient Egypt, crocodile excrement was used as contraception. Dried manure was inserted into the vagina, and when it softened at body temperature, it was believed that this created an impenetrable obstacle to conception.

Other contraceptive methods also included tree sap, lemon halves, cotton, wool, sea sponges and elephant excrement.

6. Arsenic

Arsenic is known as a poison, but has been used as a medicine in traditional Chinese medicine for centuries. It also became a key ingredient in the treatment of malaria and syphilis in the late 18th century, as well as arthritis and diabetes. Victorian women used arsenic as a cosmetic.

Ancient medicine

7. Snake oil

For centuries, Chinese water snake oil has been used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat joint pain and is still used today.

Snakes are now known to be a source of eicosapentaenoic acid and omega-3 fatty acids, which have anti-inflammatory properties.

8. Uroscopy

In medieval Europe, doctors made diagnoses based on uroscopy, in other words, by looking at patients’ urine. Some patients brought their urine to the doctor themselves, while others sent a test. The doctor would usually observe the smell, consistency, and even taste of the urine.

9. Wine Mariani

Mariani wine was invented by Italian chemist Angelo Mariani in 1863. The tonic consisted of wine and coca leaves. The drink became very popular, probably because coca leaves contain cocaine. The advertisement claimed that Mariani wine was approved by 8,000 doctors and was ideal for “overworked men, weak women and sickly children.” It was enjoyed by Thomas Edison, Queen Victoria, Pope Pius X and others.

American pharmacist John Pemberton later created a similar drink, which became known as Coca-Cola.

10. Diagnosis based on sheep liver

In the absence of blood tests and x-rays, ancient healers resorted to unusual methods of diagnosing the disease. So in Mesopotamia, doctors judged the health of a patient by studying the liver of a sacrificed sheep.

At that time, the liver was considered the source of human blood, that is, the source of life.

11. Cutting the tongue

In the 18th and 19th centuries, doctors tried to treat stuttering by cutting off half the patient's tongue. This method is now used to treat oral cancer, and the procedure is performed under general anesthesia, which is not the case in the past.

In addition to the fact that this method did not work, it caused unbearable pain and some patients bled to death.

12. Electroshock

One of the most commonly used but controversial treatments is electroconvulsive therapy, or electroshock. The method was invented in the 1930s to treat mental illness. Today, electric shock is still used in the treatment of severe forms of depression.

13. Ketchup

In 1830, Dr. Archibald Miles(Archibald Miles) claimed to have found a substance in tomatoes that would cure diarrhea, nausea and indigestion. The tomato extract he released was later declared a hoax. As you know, tomatoes actually contain beneficial lycopene and antioxidants. However, modern tomato products, such as ketchup, also contain a lot of salt, sugar and preservatives.

Alternative medicine

14. Dog excrement

Dried dog excrement was once used to relieve sore throats. They were mixed with honey to clear and reduce inflammation in the throat. This medicine was also used as a patch to heal wounds.

15. Shark cartilage

The idea of ​​using shark cartilage to treat cancer arose in the 1950s, after it was discovered that sharks do not get cancer. However, modern research has shown that shark cartilage does not have a significant effect on human health.

16. Dirt

Mud is used in numerous pharmaceutical drugs, including tablet coatings. NASA has also used this treatment to counteract the degenerative effects of weightlessness on bones.

17. Cigarettes

There are no treatment methods available in the modern world. Here you have acupuncture (acupuncture) along with acupressure, magnetotherapy and mushroom treatment, eating lizard soups (helps with colds), and “torture” with cold.

There is even so-called image therapy. At first glance, a strange name that has nothing to do with the treatment method. However, image therapy is nothing more than therapy with mental images. This section of classical Chinese medicine includes reading a mantra, listening to special music, patting the body and “plucking out” bad, long-wasted energy from the human body.

But I won’t go into details, but will present to your attention 6 more unusual treatment methods in the world:

Treatment with bee venom

Do you suffer from rheumatic diseases? It's OK. The most common bees will help you in the fight against this disease.

This method is considered an alternative treatment. And in ordinary hospitals such services are not provided. Most often, bee venom treatment (apitherapy) is used in China. However, by searching on the Internet, you can find such medical centers in Kyiv.

Despite the fact that bee stings are very painful, they perfectly relieve joint inflammation in diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, and help with radiculitis, intercostal neuralgia, and polyneuritis.

Apitherapy is also indicated for people with varicose veins, bronchial asthma, chronic bronchitis, migraine and other diseases.

Snake massage

And here is one of the most unusual types of massage that was mastered in Israel.

The technique for performing it is very simple: six snakes are placed on the patient’s back. Moreover, reptiles must be of different species. Large snakes relieve deep muscle cramps and pain, but smaller ones create the effect of light vibration.

Not everyone can decide on such a procedure, and for some it can become a real horror movie. There will be no time for relaxation here.

There are several establishments that are ready to offer this type of service in Kyiv.

Urine therapy

Few people would dare to be treated with urine, much less risk drinking it. But this is the so-called urine therapy.

There are many supporters of this type of treatment and its opponents. However, there is no scientific evidence of the health benefits of urine therapy. Proponents claim that drinking your own urine literally works wonders. Heals malignant tumors, heart disease, allergies, diabetes, asthma and many other diseases. Just a cure for all diseases.

Beer SPA

This method of treatment will certainly be of interest to beer lovers. But in order to enjoy such an unusual spa treatment, you will have to go to the Czech Republic, Austria or Germany.

In these countries, many places have appeared where tourists are invited to soak in a bath filled with special dark beer.

Thus, last year a new beer spa opened in the Czech Republic, which houses five baths (each with a volume of 200 liters) made of wood. The baths are filled with dark beer, mineral water from our own well, and other useful ingredients are also added. You cannot drink this beer, but near each bath there is a wooden barrel from which you can safely pour yourself delicious beer.

The beer procedure itself lasts an hour, and its cost is about 28 euros.

According to doctors, bathing in beer has a beneficial effect on the musculoskeletal system, relaxes the body and saturates the body with vitamins.

Hirudotherapy

Many people have probably heard about hirudotherapy, or more simply put, treatment with leeches.

This treatment method was used 2.5 thousand years ago. Now it is actively used in our country.

As doctors note, the use of leeches for bloodletting is very effective in the treatment of hypertension, migraines, coronary heart disease, vascular thrombosis, in some eye diseases (glaucoma, otitis, sinusitis), as well as in the treatment of varicose veins.

Muslim banks

In many Muslim countries, for the treatment of headaches, rheumatism, eczema and some other diseases, a type of treatment called “Itsata” is used. It combines the use of special cupping and bloodletting.

The mechanism of action is simple: when it comes into contact with the patient’s body, the jar sucks his skin inside. Then, small incisions are made on the diseased areas and cupping is applied again.

Thanks to these manipulations, bad blood is removed from the body, blood circulation is stimulated, cell renewal of the body is stimulated, and metabolism is improved.

There are methods of treatment that either have not yet been accepted by official medicine or have already been rejected by it. Most of them relate to traditional medicine.

Spanking on the buttocks, as established at the Novosibirsk Research Institute of Hygiene, is the most important remedy. Siberian scientists made such a sensational statement at the international conference “New methods of influence and rehabilitation in narcology.”

The meaning of this, so to speak, “physiotherapy” is as follows - alcoholism, drug addiction, neuroses and an obsessive desire to commit suicide - these are all attempts to get away from problems, loss of interest in existence. The reason, according to researchers, is a decrease in the body’s production of so-called “happiness hormones” - endorphins.

And if such a person is properly beaten, of course, without causing injury, then he will develop a taste for life. The teachings came to the healing effect of flogging therapy after familiarizing themselves with ancient treatises, when “all kinds of nonsense” was beaten out with a whip and rods - from illegal behavior and bad thoughts to psychosis and pneumonia. The discoverer of this method, S. Speransky, by self-flagellation, saved himself from depression, as well as from the consequences of two heart attacks.

When the urine hits your head

It is believed that what leaves the body as waste cannot be re-ingested, at least not immediately. Urine and feces are good fertilizers. Every agronomist will tell you this. But none of the summer residents will risk using them internally. Even our cosmonauts categorically refused a device that would process their urine into sterile drinking water on the space station. Disgust and disgust were the main reason for the refusal. Nevertheless, supporters of urine therapy believe that drinking your own urine cures malignant tumors, heart disease, allergies, diabetes, asthma and a dozen other diseases. In their conviction, they refer to the ancient medical treatise of India - the notorious Ayurveda...

But there is an even more extreme type of treatment - calotherapy, which, according to its supporters, helps against many diseases. The origins of this are also found in Indian manuscripts. In India, for example, it is still believed that a cow patty pressed onto a non-healing ulcer is the best medicine, since the cow is a sacred animal. They use the therapeutic properties of their own feces. For example, the following recommendation from modern calotherapists is touching: “Do not under any circumstances consume liquid stool, since the acid-base balance is disturbed in them, use exclusively your morning stool for oral consumption, which can be frozen in reserve, and heated in the microwave before eating.” ..."

Getting rid of diseases with fish and insects

Maggots are fly larvae that develop in rotting waste. These creatures evoke instinctive disgust in everyone, except fishermen, for whom maggots are the best bait. In addition, it is not the maggot itself that smells, but its habitat...

It has been known since ancient times that fly larvae are able to clean purulent wounds, as they eat dead tissue. This method was forgotten, but recently interest in maggot therapy has revived, since pathogenic bacteria have appeared that are resistant to antibiotics, which voracious maggots eat with pleasure. In addition, the method itself is simple and cheap. Since 2004, the treatment of infected wounds with fly larvae has been officially permitted in the United States and in a number of other countries, but for our country this is still exotic.

A fundamentally similar curation method is spa-fish. This is the name for the therapy of skin diseases with the help of small fish, like guppies, that eat dead tissue on the surface of human skin. The method has been used in Southeast Asia for centuries, and only in the last decade has it begun to spread throughout the world. A person comes to a special salon, puts his feet in a pond or completely immerses himself in it, and small garra rufa fish begin to gently bite his body. This procedure is pleasant and completely painless. In addition to the cosmetic effect, these fish help fight diseases such as psoriasis, eczema and athlete's foot. The fish do not have teeth, and they eat only the topmost, already keratinized, layer of skin, without touching healthy tissue.

Tapeworm for weight loss

Laughter therapy

This unusual method is gradually gaining more and more supporters. In India, for example, today there are several hundred special clubs where people come for the sole purpose of having fun from the heart. In our country, this role is played by various television shows, comedian performances, comedy films, etc.

Today it has been scientifically proven that any laughter, from a stupid giggle from tickling to laughter from some intellectual joke, prevents and neutralizes stress, improves the functioning of the heart and blood vessels, activates metabolism and, in general, prolongs life. During laughter, regardless of its reasons, a person produces endorphins, which improve mood and vitality. It has been proven that cheerful and cheerful people live longer and suffer less from infectious diseases. This was noted by Hippocrates, but modern medicine, more focused on taking various chemical drugs, has almost forgotten about it.

A classic example of the healing role of laughter is the medical story of the American Norman Cousins, who was diagnosed with spondyloarthritis in 1972. This disease in 100% of cases led to complete immobility due to dysfunction of the joints. However, Cousins ​​was optimistic. Having read somewhere that bad thoughts lead to illness, he began to strive with all his might to eliminate and prevent them from occurring in himself. All day long he watched comedies and humorous programs on TV. Gradually the pain stopped tormenting him, and his mood began to improve. Moreover, the inflammatory process in the body has subsided. Some more time passed, and he began to truly enjoy life, stopping the use of medications.

This is how a new discipline arose - gelotology (from the Greek “gelos” - laughter), and clowns began to appear in serious medical institutions. In 1998, in the USA, based on these events, which led to the creation of a new therapeutic technique, the film “Healer Adams” was created.

Heroin and mercury therapy

In the 19th century, syrup for children was widespread, eliminating cough and pain. The medicine turned out to be so effective that it almost replaced all other methods of treatment, until they noticed something was wrong - many children who were given this “syrup” for some reason died. When the contents of the drug were subjected to detailed testing, it turned out that it contained morphine, chloroform, codeine, heroin, opium and hashish. Naturally, the method was immediately banned...

Today everyone knows that mercury is poison. But in the old days, pure mercury was used to treat volvulus, syphilis, tuberculosis, rheumatism and a dozen other diseases. To do this, you had to drink about a glass of mercury. It is known that in the 4th millennium BC. e. Mercury was also used in China to treat leprosy. And Taoist monks used cinnabar (a mercury compound) in their elixir of longevity. At the same time, they understood the symptoms of mercury poisoning - such as a crawling sensation (paresthesia), trembling of the fingertips and sweating - as an indicator of the effectiveness of the drug. It is not surprising that many of the wards soon died. The problem, as they say, disappeared with the death of the patient.

Original ways to get rid of snoring

Everyone knows what snoring is and how it complicates the lives of all those who sleep with a snorer in the same or even in the next room. Here we will not touch on the specific reasons why a particular person snores. Let us dwell only on the most unusual methods of getting rid of snoring. For example, it was noted that a person snores more often when sleeping on his back, and therefore it was proposed to attach a hard ball between his shoulder blades to avoid this position.

Special suction cups were also offered for the tongue so that it would not fall back and act like the reed of a clarinet, causing snoring with its vibration, etc. For the same purpose, they tried to use various, first electrical, and then electronic devices. One of the most interesting devices was a combination of a microphone and amplifier with headphones, placed on the snorer's head before going to bed. For this purpose, a hearing aid was used for the hard of hearing - the person woke up from his own snoring, the sounds of which, amplified many times over, were transmitted to his ears.

Frost treatment

Many people know about treatment with warming and heat. An example is the sauna and Russian bath, with the help of which they get rid, for example, of radiculitis. As for the healing properties of cold, many are hearing about it for the first time. And yet such a technique exists. It was first used in the Czech Republic, in the resort town of Teplice nad Bečvou, creating a special refrigerator for people, or cryochamber, with a temperature of minus 160 degrees. The patient is placed in this freezer stripped naked and for only 2-3 minutes. During this short time, he does not even get mild frostbite, but as a result of repeated stays in artificial frost, it is possible to relieve him of allergies, hypertension, skin diseases, neurosis, sinusitis, depression and a number of joint and muscle ailments. Similar “anti-sauna” treatment is available in some clinics in our country.