Vintage Hygiene Practices That Are the Very Opposite of Clean

 
Mercury Was Used as Treatment for Syphilis

Syphilis was widespread in the 1500s, and doctors found what they thought would be the cure. Dosing people with mercury seemed to do the trick. Patients would be rubbed in mercury ointment several times a day despite intense side effects. The treatment would go on for years; however, it was known to cause ulcers, teeth loss, and kidney failure. The mercury treatment alone could kill the patients before the disease did.

It is madness to think that it was once thought to be a good idea to be slathered in mercury to rid of a general disease. What could possibly be next?