Vintage Hygiene Practices That Are the Very Opposite of Clean

There Was No Sterilization or Anesthesia for Surgeries

In the 1800s, surgery was a nightmare. Doctors didn’t sterilize tools between patients, spreading infection with every cut. Germ theory hadn’t caught on yet, so hygiene wasn’t part of the medical routine.

Even worse, there was no effective anesthesia. Patients remained awake, often held down, while enduring operations in excruciating pain. It was the stuff of true medical horror.