12 Weird Medical Proceedures and Treatments That Actually Worked

There have been a lot of weird medical procedures throughout human history. We’ve abandoned a lot of them today, favoring modern science as a better option.

A few of these procedures and therapies have survived, though – and a few were even created in the past decade. The most shocking element of these medical practices: they actually work.

We’ve compiled a list of 12 of the strangest medical procedures science has ever attempted. In these cases, the weird procedure worked better than anything logical you might have imagined.

Removing Half of Your Brain

You may have heard the term “someone with half a brain could do that.” While that statement might sound like an exaggeration, there are people with half of their brain out there.

You can survive with half of a brain. The remaining half picks up the slack.

In fact, those who suffer from severe epilepsy often require this procedure. It’s called hemispherectomy and has been used to cure epilepsy in children for years.

Maggot Therapy

Maggot therapy is one of the ancient healing methods that you’d read about in a history book and scratch your head.

You might be even more surprised to learn that people are beginning to use this procedure again today.

Maggots, while dirty, will not infect an open wound. Instead, they’ll eat away at the bacteria that causes an infection. This bacteria is resistant to antibiotics, so these gross little worms are our best option.

Waste Therapy

This disgusting treatment involves the use of human urine and feces as a medical tool. Those who swear by the treatment claim it cures everything from chronic diseases to allergies.

Western research is still out on this, and we don’t recommend eating and drinking your own waste. Still, there are some claims that this has worked in the past.

Cryotherapy for Skin Cancer

Cryogenic chamber therapy is a rapidly growing recovery trend in the western world. While more researchers need to study this fad, cryotherapy has been effective in treating skin cancer.

Doctors use liquid nitrogen to burn the skin right off of your body. You’ll likely feel a good amount of pain, but this therapy seems to work.

Laughter is the Best Medicine

We’ve all heard that laughter is s the best medicine. but Dr. Madan Kataria of India took this saying literally. Kataria started developing laughter sessions, where groups of people would come together and laugh with their hands up in the air like a bunch of loons.

The surprising part? The therapy actually has some basis in science. Laughing helps our bodies fight diseases to a degree.

We don’t suggest skipping medical treatment in favor of a rewatch of Dumb and Dumber, though.

Head Transplant

That’s right; a head transplant makes the list of weird medical procedures that actually worked.

This is a technicality, to be honest. A Russian doctor successfully transplanted a dog’s head in the 1950’s. Last year, though this transplantation surgery was brought to humans.

Unfortunately, scientists don’t have high hopes for the man who plans to undergo this procedure, Valery Spiridonov.

Broken Bones Make You Taller

“Short people problems” are a real thing, but what if we tell you there’s a cure for being short? All you have to do is break all your bones, put some spacers in there, and wait for them to grow!

This strategy works in practice, as your bones grow to mend the gap the doctors made, but it probably isn’t worth all the trouble. Doctors use this method to correct birth defects, not for 30-year-olds to grow a few more inches.

A Casual IV

IV nutrient therapy isn’t the most bizarre of the medical cures on this list, but it’s still worth mentioning.

People are becoming more and more willing to sign up for these nutrient replacement therapies for a hangover, headache, and fatigue cures.

The therapy works – which is understandable. It’s the frequency with which some people use this therapy that’s a bit weird. It’s now feasible to hook yourself up to an IV to cure a hangover.

Slice Your Body in Half

That’s right: the magicians you watched as a kid were actually performing a medical procedure.

There have to be some pretty bad circumstances for a doctor to suggest amputating half of your body, but it’s been done many times in the past.

Patients usually have irreparable spinal cord damage or a tumor of some kind before a doctor decides it’s a good idea to chop them in two.

Replacing Your Eye With a Tooth

It’s difficult to replace a lost eye with an artificial one, which is why doctors sometimes extract a tooth instead. They put the tooth in your eye socket, and your body accepts it as an organic replacement.

Once your body is willing to accept the tooth as your new eye, doctors replace it with an artificial one. It might be weird, but the procedure has helped some regain their eyesight.

Who needs tooth whitening when your teeth can boost your eyesight?

Tapeworm Therapy

Tapeworms are far from the safest way to lose weight. If you let one fester in your body for long enough, you will eventually die.

You can say what you want about tapeworms for weight loss, but there’s one thing you have to admit: they’re effective. Ingesting a tapeworm for the purposes of losing weight will certainly work.

Bee Sting Therapy

Using bee stings as a medical therapy is another ancient ritual that has survived to the modern day. Doctors hold a bee over your skin with a pair of forceps until it decides it’s had enough and wants to sting you.

Cultures throughout history have used this therapy for arthritis and inflammation, and it shockingly still applies today.

Weird Medical Procedures

Countless weird medical procedures have shown to be effective. Most of them originated from ancient practices, but some were developed by today’s mad scientists.

Want to find some more oddities in health that you’ve never seen before? Take a look at our website for everything weird, strange, and out of place.

Weirdomatic is the place where all weird things come to life through the amazing world of photographs – a corner of our wild imagination or the whimsical face of the reality?