c.2600BC: An ancient Chinese cure for toothache

A Chinese remedy for severe toothache, purportedly written by Huangdi, the ‘Yellow Emperor’, calls for a strange mix of ingredients to be blended and shoved up the nose:

“Roast a piece of garlic then crush it between the teeth. Mix with chopped horseradish seeds then make into a paste with human breast milk. Form this paste into pills and place one into the nostril, on the opposite place to where the pain is located.”

Source: Chinese medical treatise circa 2600BC, cited in P Dabry, La Medecine chez les Chinois, 1863. Content on this page is © Alpha History 2019-23. Content may not be republished without our express permission. For more information please refer to our Terms of Use or contact Alpha History.