SC - Re: leeches, infections etc....

[Nisha Martin]

I wonder how good they are at reducing infections? 
Like, sucking out 
infected
goo with the blood around a sutured wound in a
pre-antibiotic era


I am not sure about period use, but I did  reasearch
paper on folk remedies once, and appalacian doctors
used to use maggots for ear infections. They would put
the newly hatched maggots in teh air, bandage it up
and open it in 3 days and the flies would fly out.
They didn't eat the good tissue, only the infection.
It seems kinda gross by todays standards, but it
worked. There were other things they did, like packing
wounds with moldy bread and certain "herbal" teas for
pms and headaches. (marijuana and mint tea was the one
I read about) It was actually one of the papers that I
enjoyed the research on. 
I know this does't really have to do with cooking, but
since it was related to the other post, I thought I'd
pass it on. Hope I didn't gross anyone out.
:)
Nisha

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