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Medicine during Elizabethan Era
Medicine during Elizabethan Era
By: Omar Hdez & Kennedy T.
Elizabethan Doctors / Physician
Elizabethan Doctors / Physician
In the time of Elizabethan, doctors were called "physicians." These physicians went to Universities for certificates that showed they finished college. During school, students were able to do real dissections on the bodies of deceased criminals for, let's say, experience. Once they obtained the certificate for finishing college, they could get a doctor's license. When dealing with disease, doctors were required to wear special clothing that was supposed to protect them from getting sick
Type of Doctors
Type of Doctors
Elizabethan Physicians
Only the very wealthy would receive the ministrations of an Elizabethan Physician who would have received an education at one of the Universities and the College of Physicians. The usual fee would be a gold coin worth 10 shillings - well beyond the means of most Elizabethans
Elizabethan Surgeons
Inferior to Physicians these had a similar reputation to the barbers with whom they associated and belonged to the Company of Barber Surgeons
Barbers
The Barbers were inferior to the Surgeons, although they also belonged to the Company of Barber Surgeons. They were only allowed to pull teeth or let blood
Elizabethan Apothocary
The usual route that most people took was to visit the apothecary, or dispenser of drugs. The Apothocaries belonged to the Grocer's Guild and sold sweets, cosmetics and perfumes as well as drugs
The Church
The Church provided some comfort for the poor
The local 'Wise Woman'
The local 'wise woman' was often the first person contacted by poor people
The Elizabethan Housewife - The ordinary Elizabethan housewife used various herbs to produce home made medicines and potions
Elizabethan Physician Clothes
Elizabethan Physician Clothes
Elizabethan Physicians wore long dark robes with pointed hoods, leather gloves, boots, and the most bizarre masks featuring long beaks which were filled with begamot oil. Amulets of dried blood and ground-up toads were worn at the waists of the Elizabethan Physicians. It was their custom to douse themselves with vinegar and chew angelica before approaching a victim. The bizarre and gruesome Physician masks would have acted as protection against contracting the disease through breathing the same air as the victim. Neither rats nor fleas could easily penetrate these defences.
Elizabethan Medicine
Elizabethan Medicine
* Bubonic Plague ( the Black Death )
Bubonic Plague was treated by lancing the buboes and applying a warm poultice of butter, onion and garlic. Various other remedies were tried including tobacco, arsenic, lily root and dried toad.
* Head Pains
Head Pains were treated with sweet-smelling herbs such as rose, lavender, sage, and bay.
* Stomach Pains and Sickness
Stomach pains and sickness were treated with wormwood, mint, and balm.
* Lung Problems
Lung problems given the medical treatment of liquorice and comfrey.
* Wounds\
Vinegar was widely used as a cleansing agent as it was believed that it would kill disease.
*
Beliefs
Beliefs
The Elizabethan medical practices were created around the idea of four humours, or fluids of our body. “It was believed that four humours or fluids entered into the composition of a man: blood, phlegm, choler (or yellow bile), and melancholy (or black bile).” If one of these fluids became imbalanced, having more or less fluid than the other three, the person was believed to be ill. A fever is a common sickness we know today, that was believed to be created by an unbalanced humour. To cure these patients, doctors would reduce the amount of blood or bile in the body.
Treatments
Treatments
1 * Coating the victim in mercury and placing them in the oven to ward off the disease.
2 * Having the victim carry with them a lucky charm, like a rabbit foot for good luck.
3 * Having the victim smell strong odors
4 * blood-letting (draining blood from veins to 'rebalance' the humors)
5 * leeches
Elizabethan Illness
Elizabethan Illness
Elizabethan illnesses were similar to the illnesses of the Modern age - but before causes had been identified and cures identified. In addition to this there were outbreaks of terrible diseases such as the Bubonic Plague and Typhoid. Broken bones, wounds, abscesses and fractures were treated in unsanitary environments making the condition even worse. The only cure for toothache was having the tooth pulled - without anaesthetics. Amputations were performed by surgeons - the stump was cauterised with pitch. Poor living conditions and poor diet led to many illnesses suffered by both the wealthy and the poor.