Oh, the good old days. We longingly wish many times that we could go back to a time when life was easier, crime was less, people visited in the evenings on the front porch swing. The memories … and many were such good memories. But, some just weren’t! I’d like to take you back to the 1800s. The family is snug in their little cabin and all is well until … someone becomes ill. I’ve told you about many of the folk remedies that were used by our pioneer families in a much earlier tip, but now it’s time to call the doctor. After you read through some of the “tools” of the trade” and techniques used, you might be thankful for our present day health care. Please do not read this late at night!

One of the most common practices carried over from much earlier times was blood letting. This was also called bleeding the victim … I mean patient. Greek physicians used this technique back to 130-200 AD through the middle of the 19th century. A doctor used blood letting to cure toothaches, fevers, headaches, pain, coughing, colds and it was thought to cure mental illness. In other words, bloodletting was supposed to cure everything. Many of our Presidents had this technique used on them, or did it to themselves. Doctors believed that diseases caused blood to stagnate in various parts of the body and that blood needed to be released. How was it done? Leaches were a favorite (and is coming back into vogue), suctioning out the blood, cutting into a blood vessel or using cups (described below) to cause a blood blister and then lancing it. Between 16-30 ounces of blood was drained and caught in a bowl – most times the doctor stopped when the patient passed out.

Cupping mentioned above brought the blood to the surface. Using a pinch of lint or similar substance, this was lit and placed in a cup. The cup was then put over the patient’s skin. This caused a vacuum as the oxygen was used up. When the cup cooled and the air inside the cup contracted, the vacuum caused the skin to be sucked up into the cup and caused a blood blister.

Blood letting or bleeding was so commonly used that families who could afford it owned lancets to bleed their own family members. A tool called a scarficator was used from the early 1700s and was supposed to be more “merciful” for its users. It had a release lever with multiple blades which shot out at the same time. This produced a series of parallel cuts. By raising or lowering the base of the scarficator with a knob at the top, one could set the depth of the cut. There were normally 13 blades cutting at the same time. Sounds grand doesn’t it?

Let’s look now as some of the other tools and cures if you’re brave enough!

Amputation Knife: Dating from the 1700s this knife was used for amputations during the 18th century. It was a curved knife to allow the surgeon to make a circular cut into the skin and muscle. In the 1800s more straight knives were used so the surgeon could leave a flap of skin to cover the stump.

Amputation Saw: Dating from the 1600s and used originally by the wealthier surgeons. Use of the saw caused problems as many were decorated with carvings, grooves, etc., into which germs could thrive.

Other instruments used included: Liston knife or knives which had long straight razor sharp blades polished steel blades for cutting through the muscle. A capital saw (the large one) was for sawing through weight bearing bones. The forceps and smaller knives would have been used for trimming the muscle and skin in such a way as to produce flap. The needles were used to sew the flap of skin and muscle in place over the bone stump. There would also have been a tourniquet for applying pressure around the limb to temporarily cutting off the blood supply.


Blister plasters: Not an instrument, but a technique. It was supposed to alleviate pain by setting up a counter irritant. When placed on the skin, it caused a red blister to form. The blood under the plaster was supposed to rush to that area which was inflamed. By doing this it was thought that the blood would be drawn away from the infected part of the body and stop the pain. The plaster was to remain on the skin for 20 or so minutes and applied 1-3 times a day. It burned but you were not supposed to let it burn unless the pain was unbearable.


Bullet Extractor: This gadget dating from the 1500s) could reach deep enough to extract bullets. It had a screw tip which was inserted into the wound and lengthened. It pierced the bullet and allowed it to be pulled out.

Cervical Dilator: a dandy devise used in the 1800s on pregnant women was used to dilate the cervix during labor. There was a scale so the doctor could see the progress of dilation but it fell out of favor because of many tearings of the cervix.

Circumcision Knife. Quite self-explanatory, this devise was used in the 1700s.

Ecraseur . This instrument was used in the 1870s to sever hemorrhoids and uterine or ovarian tumors. It was a chain which was looped over the mass and tightened with a ratchet. This stopped the circulation of blood to the mass.

Hemorrhoid Forceps. Also used in the 1800s, this was used to grab hold of a hemorrhoid between its blades and to apply pressure stopping the blood supply The hemorrhoid then dried up and dropped off.

Hernia Tool. A very unusual tool invented in the 1850s, this was used after restoring a hernia. It was inserted into the body near the hernia area and left there a week. It produced scar tissue that it was thought would help seal off the hernia.

Hirtz Compass. A more modern tool, used by 1915, determined where bullets were located so they could more precisely be located.

Lithotome : If you had bladder stones from the mid 1700s to about 1830; this instrument might have been used. It simply cut the bladder open to get to the stones. It had a shaft with a hidden blade; was inserted into the bladder and the blades released by a spring handle.

Mouth Gag . Used from the 1880s to the 1910s this was a wooden, screw shaped instrument to keep the patients mouth open along with his airways.

Mustard Plaster. Another “cure all” used in the 1800s – it was claimed that is invaluable in relieving inflammation, pain, infections. It might also help diarrhea, sleeplessness, pneumonia and attacks of paralysis.

Skull Saw: As the name specifies, this saw was used from the 1830s to about 1860s . It had blades that were hand cranked. It allowed an access for other tools to be used.

Tobacco Smoke Enema. This unusual treatment dating from the 1750’s to the early 1800s allowed tobacco smoke to be pushed into the rector for an assorted array of medical treatments. It was believed to help in the resuscitation of a drowning individual.

Tonsil Guillotine: Another mid 1800s instrument allowed for the removal of tonsils. It worked like a regular guillotine and sliced off the tonsils. It was a double guillotine so both tonsils could be removed at the same time. All of you who have had your tonsils removed, didn’t this sound like fun?

Trephine: This instrument used in the 1800s was a simple hand-powered drill. It had a cylindrical blade that bored into the skull.

Before leaving this “calming” topic, let’s take a quick look at some dental tools.

Double elevator: Used in the 1800s this was used to apply hard pressure to the tooth. It forced the tooth against one of the socket and caused the bone to compress around the tooth. After many pushes the socket became larger and the tooth came out. The toothkey was then used as a claw attached around the tooth to finish pulling it out. It looked like an 18th century door key thus its name.

Of course, for many years there were no trained dentists and people either treated themselves or went to the barber OR the blacksmith to have teeth pulled!

Now that you’ve had a look at some of the instruments and treatments used by the pioneer doctors and before, what were you saying about the good old days? Maybe not that far back, right?

My sources were many on the web – medical sites, museums of medical tools. If you would like to see what some of these primitive tools looked like, do a search on the name of the tool and I’m sure it will bring up photos. If you’re brave enough!

© Copyright 8 Oct 2009, Sandra K. Gorin