Medieval cures and prevention

Religious methods: praying, fasting, going on pilgrimages, and flagellation (whipping oneself to seek God’s forgiveness).
Humoural treatments: involved trying to balance the Four Humours.
- Purging: patients were given emetics (to make them vomit) and empty their bowels to clear out their systems. Some apothecaries even gave their patients poison.
- Bloodletting: involved using leeches, cupping, or cutting a vein to drain out an ‘imbalance’ of blood.
- Herbal remedies: patients were given spice-based mixtures to drink, smell, or bathe in to clear out blockages and remove ‘miasma.’
Astrology: star charts and almanacs (books about astronomical and meteorological events) were used since astrology was believed to affect health, with planets thought to influence different parts of the body.
Miasma prevention: people carried sweet-smelling herbs and flowers or burnt pleasant-smelling substances to purify the air.
Regimen sanitatis: a famous poem containing advice on healthy living, such as diet, exercise, and hygiene, to avoid illness.

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