Outdated hygiene practices that are anything but clean

For centuries, leeches were the go-to medical fix for just about any ailment. Doctors figured that draining blood would balance the body’s “humors,” so they’d slap on a bunch of leeches and let ’em suck away for hours.

Even though it sounds like something out of the Dark Ages, it was a treatment taken seriously. Ironically, it often just made the patient weaker or caused infections. Still, for a long time, leeches were considered the bee’s knees of medical science.