Terrifying Ways Doctors Once Treated Headaches (Including Drilling Holes)

We’ve all had headaches, and most of us don’t think twice about how to treat them: some paracetamol, a cold compress, maybe a nap. But if you’d lived a few hundred years ago, the options would’ve been a lot more gruesome. For centuries, headaches weren’t just a nuisance; they were often seen as signs of spiritual imbalance, bodily corruption, or even demonic possession. And the cures? They ranged from mildly strange to absolutely horrifying. Here’s what people once endured in the name of relief.

Trepanation: drilling into the skull

Yes, people really did this, and they did it for a very long time. Trepanation involved drilling or scraping a hole into the skull to “release pressure” or “let out evil spirits.” The practice dates back thousands of years, with trepanned skulls found in Neolithic Europe, ancient Peru, and medieval Britain.

In some cases, it was done for seizures or mental illness, but chronic headaches were often considered reason enough. There’s evidence many patients actually survived the procedure, which is both impressive and chilling, considering it was performed without anaesthetic or antiseptics. In the Middle Ages, trepanation was considered a serious medical intervention, but the idea of cracking open someone’s skull with hand tools is enough to make modern surgeons wince.

Bloodletting and leeches

For much of history, headaches were blamed on an imbalance in the body’s “humours”: blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile. If you had too much of one, you needed to be rebalanced. Enter bloodletting.

Doctors would cut into a vein or apply leeches to draw blood out of the patient. Headaches were often associated with excess blood in the head, so draining it from the arm, or sometimes the forehead or neck, was supposed to help. It didn’t. But that didn’t stop doctors from using it for centuries. Leeches were especially popular in the 18th and 19th centuries, with medical texts recommending dozens of them at a time. People left these sessions woozy, pale, and often in worse shape than before.

Burning and blistering the scalp

If bleeding didn’t work, why not try fire? Cauterisation, or burning parts of the body, was used to treat everything from tumours to headaches. One common method was to apply a red-hot metal rod or heated herbal paste to the scalp. This was supposed to “draw out” the pain by creating a counter-irritation.

Another practice involved creating blisters on the skin using caustic substances or mustard plasters. These were rubbed into the temples or neck to stimulate circulation and draw “bad humours” to the surface. Some physicians genuinely believed that blistering one part of the body would relieve pain elsewhere. Unsurprisingly, this was excruciating and rarely effective.

Vinegar compresses and noxious scents

Not every remedy was violent—some just smelled awful. Headaches were sometimes treated with vinegar-soaked cloths infused with herbs like mint, rose, or camphor. These compresses were applied to the temples or scalp, and were meant to cool the head and ease pressure.

People also used sniffing herbs or smoked resins to drive out the pain. In medieval Europe, it was believed that strong smells could disrupt whatever imbalance was causing the headache. Frankincense, myrrh, or even ammonia-based compounds were inhaled through the nose. In some cases, the aim was to induce sneezing, which was thought to “clear the head” and relieve pressure on the brain.

Headache charms and prayers

When physical remedies failed, or before they were tried, people often turned to charms, spells, and prayers. In the Middle Ages, headaches were sometimes seen as punishment from God or the work of malevolent spirits. Remedies included wearing amulets, reciting specific prayers, or placing written charms under the pillow.

Some people carried small bags filled with herbs and written scripture tied around their heads. Others pressed holy relics to their temples, or visited saints’ shrines in hopes of a miracle cure. These rituals may not have helped the pain itself, but they did provide comfort, especially when no other treatments worked.

Applying animal parts

It wasn’t uncommon for medieval and early modern physicians to use animal matter in their headache remedies. Recipes from the time suggest rubbing pig’s brain on the temples, placing a dead mole on the scalp, or binding the forehead with the skin of a snake. One especially grim method involved mixing deer marrow with herbs and smearing it on the forehead.

These treatments came from a belief that the properties of animals—strength, speed, stealth—could transfer to humans when applied correctly. Today, we’d call it superstition. Back then, it was medicine.

Astrology and diagnosis by the stars

Some doctors used astrology to diagnose and treat headaches, believing celestial bodies had a direct influence on health. According to medieval beliefs, the sign Aries ruled the head. If you were suffering from a headache, the physician might check whether Mars (the ruler of Aries) was in a bad position.

Treatments were sometimes delayed if the stars weren’t favourable, and some herbs were only gathered or administered during specific moon phases. Astrology played a serious role in medical training for centuries. In fact, Cambridge and Oxford taught it as part of their curricula well into the 1600s.

Pounding, binding, and pressure devices

Pressure was another method used, either to relieve or redistribute pain. This included tying tight bands around the head, pressing the temples with wooden blocks, or placing weights on the forehead. One 17th-century device looked like a leather headband that could be tightened with a screw.

Some physicians believed that compressing the skull helped prevent excess blood from rushing to the head. Others thought it realigned bones or relieved nerve tension. Needless to say, it was often more headache-inducing than relieving.

Herbal brews that could knock you out

While some plants were soothing, others were downright dangerous. Remedies for severe migraines often included concoctions made with henbane, mandrake, or opium poppy, all of which had sedative effects and serious side effects.

Henbane in particular was known to cause hallucinations and confusion. It was sometimes boiled into tea or mixed into a salve and rubbed on the forehead. The idea wasn’t so much to cure the headache as to put the sufferer into a semi-conscious state where they could no longer feel it.

Treated with a touch of royalty

In England, the “Royal Touch” was once believed to heal many ailments, including headaches caused by “evil humours” or supernatural interference. Monarchs like Edward the Confessor and Charles II were said to possess healing powers, and thousands would queue for the chance to be touched on the head or neck.

While this was more of a public spectacle than a treatment, the placebo effect could have offered temporary relief, though probably not enough to justify standing for hours in a medieval crowd.