Medical Practices In the Colonies During the 1700’s

By: Alex

In the 1700’s, there were only two medical schools in the country. When people got sick, there were not many cures. The most common remedy for an illness was the housewife giving the patient an herb. If a patient had to have surgery they would usually die afterwards.

Hospitals Hospitals were very scarce Located primarily in large towns such as

New York City, Philadelphia, Newport, Rhode Island, and Charlestown, South Carolina

Mainly built to confine people who caught a disease during epidemics

Surgery Surgeons were not trained very well Most surgeons were only good with a

knife There was no anesthesia Patients were given brandy and a stick to

bite down on during surgery Surgeons did not sterilize hands or tools Most patients died after surgery from

infection

Housewives Housewives were the nurse for her

family If skilled enough, could take care of the

entire neighborhood Got their knowledge from folk tales and

their mothers Used herbs to cure the sick people

Herbs Most illnesses were cured by mixtures of

herbs The herbs were consumed raw or

combined with hot water as a soup or tea

Common Remedies Chalk and Dill- cured an upset stomach Bark- cured a fever Aloe- healed burns Chickweed- when boiled in water, used to

wash injuries Rosemary- used as a disinfectant Thyme-relieved coughing Peppermint-relieved heartburn

Bleeding Bleeding was a way the doctors thought

would get all of the infectious blood out of a person’s body

The doctors would cut a person’s vein and let some of the “bad” blood bleed out

Lack of good medical practices in the 1700’s was one cause of the average life expectancy being only 35 years old.

Sources http://

www.historyisfun.org/pdfbooks/colonial_medicine.pdf

http://www.ssdsbergen.org/Colonial/medicine.htm

http://www.tehistory.org/hqda/pdf/v41/Volume41_N3_100.pdf

http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=aloe#page=3 http://

pics.tech4learning.com/index.php?search=qsearch&query=colonial+medicine&sfield=1&sorder=desc&viewmode=2&page=8&mult=2

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_tea