Folk Medicine Cures?

By Don Griffith
Published on August 5, 2012
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PHOTO: FOTOLIA/KELLIS
Some folk medicine remedies—two quarts of whiskey to cure snakebite—were maybe just a tiny bit self-serving.

Even if you are convinced that modern medicine leaves something to be desired (and who isn’t occasionally convinced?), be grateful you weren’t born 100 years ago. Back then, for every remedy concocted that worked, there were dozens with …less than stellar success rates. Here are just a few folk medicine cures that have managed to withstand the test of time (but not of practicality or effectiveness).

  • Drink two quarts of whiskey to effect a sure cure for snakebite.
  • To stop a toothache in your left jaw, tie a string around the little toe of your right foot. For the right jaw, reverse the directions.
  • Whooping cough may be cured by passing the afflicted person seven times through the arch of a bramble bush.
  • This treatment works for migraine sufferers as well.
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