16. In Ancient Egypt, as well as during the Elizabethan period in England, mashed and blended dead mice were used medically in the belief they could cure a variety of illnesses but instead, often just caused severe infections from the necrotic tissue.
Toothaches are an enduring and irritating feature of human existence. Usually caused by tooth decay, endemic during the lives of our early ancestors due to the lack of modern dental hygiene. Several inventive cures were applied throughout history in an attempt to eliminate the consistent pain. Among these, in Ancient Egypt dead mice were routinely mashed into tiny pieces before being blended with other ingredients to form a poultice. This moist medicament would be applied to the painful area to provide relief and, allegedly, help cure the underlying causes of the toothache.
Looking beyond the disgusting reality of mashing up dead mice and coating the insides of our mouths with the remains, medically speaking the treatment caused far more harm than good to patients. Dead mice, unsurprisingly, are comprised of decomposing and potentially diseased necrotic tissue, serving as a highly infectious host of deadly illnesses. Despite this, the practice was revived in Elizabethan England as a widespread remedy for a host of ailments. Believed to cure whooping cough, measles, smallpox, warts, and even bed-wetting, the Elizabethans briefly became obsessed with dead mouse based medical cures that only led to further loss of life.