Elizabethan TreatmentsIn the Elizabethan Time, it was thought that all living things were made up of 4 elements (Phlegm, Blood, Yellow Bile, Black Bile). It was also thought that all medical process were bound with superstition. The treatments were based on astrology, numerology, herb medicine, and the 4 humors/elements (as stated above). Most treatments at the time were not effective and we would think that they were very strange. Physicians believed vinegar would kill bacteria from wounds. Herbs such as bay and lavender, rose were used to treat head pains. Liquorice was used to treat the lungs. Stomach pains were treated with balm and wormwood. The bubonic Plague had a lengthy treatment were Physicians would apply warm butter and garlic over Buboes. Other treatments that had little success were dried toad, lily root and tobacco. Earache was often treated by putting a roasted onion on your ear. One of the common treatments for many diseases was blood letting Physicians would place leeches on your skin in order to clean the body of bad blood.
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