There are countless so-called wellness tips permeating platforms like TikTok on any given day. And while many are little better than pseudoscience, some treatments like acupuncture are based on legitimate medicinal practices dating back millennia. This mix of both good and bad health remedies is nothing new, but according to researchers compiling a growing database of centuries’ old medical manuscripts, some of today’s social media suggestions aren’t that far off from prescriptions documented in the Dark Ages. But whether that’s a positive or a negative sort of depends on how you view things.

“People were engaging with medicine on a much broader scale than had previously been thought,” Meg Leja, a Binghamton University medieval historian, said in a recent profile. “They were concerned about cures, they wanted to observe the natural world and jot down bits of information wherever they could in this period known as the ‘Dark Ages.’”

Leja is also a contributor to the Corpus of Early Medieval Latin Medicine (CEMLM), an international collaboration between universities to expand the known catalog of pre-11th century Latin medical manuscripts. Many of these old texts haven’t been included in other digital collections. So far, their work has almost doubled the number of known Dark Age medical manuscripts.

After reviewing the still-expanding library, researchers now believe that the era’s remedies weren’t always quite as dubious as you might think. Many books recommend topical ointments and detox cleanses made from ingredients like dried herbs and distilled alcohols. One book’s headache cure, for example, suggests mixing crushed peach pit with rose oil before rubbing it onto your forehead. As strange as it sounds, one study from 2017 indicates rose oil may help with migraine pains.

As expected, others don’t hold up to present-day scrutiny. Contrary to one famous 9th century CE codex, vulture eyes wrapped in a fox pelt will not reduce your own eye pains. Neither will a pregnant woman’s labor progress more quickly if you tie the bird’s feathers to her left leg. 

Meanwhile, other treatments seem to straddle the line between valid and absurd. Another 9th century manuscript’s suggestion for improving hair health starts sensibly enough— covering the head with herbal-infused salt and vinegar will help to disinfect the scalp of parasites. But to really make those locks extra luscious, it then recommends applying a salve of oils with the “ashes of a burnt green lizard.”

The main takeaway Leja’s team stresses is that while the Dark Ages were “dark” in the sense that a large number of sources have not survived the centuries, many of the era’s experts were truly interested in researching real medical treatments. Leja even goes so far as to push back on the notion that people then were “anti-science.”

“People in the early Middle Ages were quite into science, into observation, into figuring out the utility of different natural substances, and trying to identify patterns and make predictions,” she explained.

Of course, rigorous research standards must be maintained to ensure ingredients like “lizard ash” stay out of today’s prescription shampoos. Meanwhile, a medieval doctor would be forgiven for thinking social media’s ability to amplify bad science amounts to demonology. In any case, hearsay, like in the Dark Ages, shouldn’t be taken at its word—be it in an ancient codex, or the latest hashtag.

 

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