Medieval diagnosis and treatment
There were only a few doctors in the medieval period. They treated only the rich. Some of the methods of diagnosis and treatment that they commonly used are listed below.
| Treatment | Description |
| Bleeding | Patients were bled to rebalance the humours. This involved cutting them to release blood into a bleeding cup, or using leeches to suck out the blood. |
| Zodiac charts | Zodiac charts were used to advise on the best time and best way to treat a patient using their astrological star sign. |
| Urine analysis | The colour, smell and sometimes taste of a patientâs urine were used to determine the imbalance in their humours and suggest a treatment. |
| Treatment | Bleeding |
|---|---|
| Description | Patients were bled to rebalance the humours. This involved cutting them to release blood into a bleeding cup, or using leeches to suck out the blood. |
| Treatment | Zodiac charts |
|---|---|
| Description | Zodiac charts were used to advise on the best time and best way to treat a patient using their astrological star sign. |
| Treatment | Urine analysis |
|---|---|
| Description | The colour, smell and sometimes taste of a patientâs urine were used to determine the imbalance in their humours and suggest a treatment. |
Barber surgeons
Surgeons were considered to be of a lower status than physicians. Physicians were more educated and focused on diagnosing and treating patients without resorting to surgery. People trained as surgeons - or barber surgeons - by being apprenticed to other surgeons.
Setting broken limbs was not too much of a problem, but internal surgery was risky, so surgery was a last resort. The problems for surgeons and patients were:
- there were no effectiveA drug that causes loss of feeling or consciousness. to sedate patients
- there were no completely effectiveA substance that kills or stops the growth of germs which cause disease. to prevent infection
- patients might die from shock or loss of blood
By the end of the Middle Ages, there is some evidence that surgery was improving. The Italian surgeon Theodoric of Lucca suggested using bandages soaked in wine to clean wounds as a mild antiseptic. He also used substances such as opium, mandrake and hemlock to induce unconsciousness as a weak anaesthetic. The many wars during this period meant that barber surgeons became quite expert in dealing with battle injuries.
However, undergoing surgery remained a risky activity for patients. Surgeons still had no idea that dirt carried disease. Most operations of medieval times, if carried out today, would end with patients claiming that poor and dangerous work had been carried out.