Bloodletting
Phlebotomy aimed to maintain or restore the humoral balance in the body by removing a moderate amount of blood. We know today that losing a small quantity of blood is usually not harmful, but nor is it beneficial. In the Middle Ages it was recognized that it was dangerous to draw blood from the elderly or the very sick, and that excessive bleeding, through injury or another cause, needed to be staunched.
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Charms
These magical remedies were not without benefit, since they sometimes incorporated medicinal plants and other therapeutic substances – and they could serve to reassure the patient. Nonetheless, the treatments usually contained fewer beneficial components than comparable non-magical recipes.
family planning
Herbal treatments based on plants such as sage, rue and pennyroyal were administered to women seeking to induce an abortion, often in the form of a drink. Several of the plants in question are known today to act as stimulants, and to promote menstruation. It is known that a high dosage of pennyroyal can bring about an abortion.
Couching for cataracts
Medieval surgeons treated cataracts by using a needle to dislodge the cloudy lens from its position in front of the pupil of the eye. People recognized that the procedure could be dangerous, and that specialist skills were required for it to work. Today, couching is seen as an ineffective method of treating cataracts that often results in blindness.
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Pharmacy
Apothecaries compounded medicines using a wide array of substances. While some materials were probably ineffective or even dangerous, others, such as ginger and senna, are used today for their medicinal properties. The pages of medieval pharmaceutical manuscripts may in fact contain remedies of which the benefits are asyet unknown to modern medicine.