Curiosities,Creepy WorldJUL 23, 2025

29 Strange, Old Medical Pics That Could Make Even Medical Students Say “Nope”

Eglė Bliabaitė, Justin Sandberg and Justinas Keturka

Medicine has really come a long way from the times in the past where you would, at best, get some herbs and a prayer if you were sufficiently sick or injured. But people still tried their best and even got creative, as medical museums around the world can show us.

We’ve gathered weird, creepy and unusual pictures of medical devices from the past. Be warned, some are a bit off-putting. So get comfortable, thank your lucky stars you were born in a time of modern medicine, upvote your favorites and be sure to share your thoughts and perhaps even experiences in the comments down below.

#1 Lewis Sayre’s Suspension Device

Vintage black and white photo showing a woman restrained in an unsettling medical device from the past with a man observing.

In the 1870s, surgeon Lewis Sayre pioneered the non-surgical treatment of scoliosis via a vertical suspension frame that held patients in an upright position. During treatment, a patient was suspended by the arms to stretch the spine and relieve pressure caused by abnormal curvature. Afterwards, they were fitted with a plaster of Paris “jacket” to hold the spine in place. While only a partial and temporary correction, it laid the foundation for modern orthopedic surgery and bracing in the 20th century.

Smith & Elder, Harvard Countway Library

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87points

#2 Heliotherapy

Group of patients seated in chairs with unsettling medical devices attached to their backs in a vintage clinical setting.

Heliotherapy, also known as phototherapy, involves exposure to direct sunlight or artificial light at controlled wavelengths to treat a variety of medical disorders. Danish researcher Niels Finsen pioneered the treatment. At the Institut Finsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, Finsen used short-wavelength light to treat lupus vulgaris, a skin infection caused by tuberculosis. For his groundbreaking work, he earned the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1903.

Europeana, Encyclopedia

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85points

#3 Cobalt Therapy

Large unsettling medical device from the past with a nurse attending to a patient lying in bed in a vintage clinical setting.

In the early 1950s, Cobalt therapy was a pioneering cancer treatment first administered by the London Health Sciences Centre using Cobalt-60 radiation technology. Also known as the Cobalt B*mb, the machine produced gamma rays that would be directed at tumors within the patient’s body, essentially k**ling the tumor tissue. Although they were highly effective in increasing cancer survival rates, the machines have since been replaced by linear accelerators.

Chris Lund/National Film Board of Canada/Library and Archives Canada, LHSC

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75points

In the mist of modern life, it's too simple to take for granted the amazing medical advances that lurk in the background, shaping our day-to-day health. We live in an era where life-threatening diseases are now preventable, life-long ailments can be managed, and surgeries that were once riddled with heavy risk can now be performed with minimal scars and speedy recovery.

These achievements don't just represent advancement in science, these are proof of our collective desire to extend life, to reduce pain, and to enhance the human experience. Vaccines are the most powerful and most underrated of these achievements. Vaccines have transformed public health by eradicating or virtually eradicating disease that once claimed millions of lives. Smallpox has been eradicated from the planet.

#4 The Emerson Respirator

Child undergoing treatment in an unsettling medical device from the past, highlighting historical medical equipment.

Created by John H. Emerson in 1931, the Emerson Respirator, or iron lung, was a large mechanical ventilator that helped polio patients suffering from respiratory paralysis breathe. A patient was placed inside the respirator with their head sticking out while air pressure changes in the inner chamber simulated breathing. More affordable and efficient than similar models of its kind, the Emerson respirator saved countless lives during the polio epidemics of the 1940s and 1950s.

National Museum of Health and Medicine, Wikipedia

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73points

#5 Thalidomide

Thalidomide capsules from past medical devices highlighting dangers that make you appreciate modern medicine advancements.

Throughout the late 1950s and early 1960s, Thalidomide was marketed as a treatment for anxiety, insomnia, tension, and morning sickness during pregnancy. While initially considered safe, the medication led to thousands of miscarriages and more than 10,000 children being born with malformed limbs. Deemed to be the cause of the largest man‐made medical disaster in history, the medication was taken off the market in 1961.

Stephencdickson, Alvin Goodley

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70points

#6 The Electro-Retinogram

Patient lying down connected to unsettling medical devices from the past with wires and monitoring equipment attached.

The electroretinogram (ERG) is a test developed in the late 19th century to measure the retina’s response to light. The first electroretinograph machines from the 1870s required wires and electrodes to be placed directly on a patient’s eyes, giving them a scary cyborg-like appearance. The test became clinically useful in the mid-20th century and made use of improved, less intimidating devices to diagnose retinal diseases.

World Health Organization, Eye Wiki

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57points

Polio is on the edge of extinction. Childhood immunizations have become so routine that people often forget just how recent and revolutionary they are. The rapid development of mRNA vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated not only how far we’ve come, but how quickly the field can pivot in response to urgent threats. These vaccines represent not just hope during a crisis, but a blueprint for responding to future outbreaks faster than ever before.

#7 The Tobacco Resuscitator Kit

Antique medical device kit with brass components and leather case, showcasing unsettling medical devices from the past.

In the late 18th century, this kit was deployed by the Royal Humane Society to help resuscitate drowning victims along the River Thames. The kit contained a pair of bellows, tobacco, and other fixtures. Hot tobacco was meant to be blown into the victim’s r*ctum using the devices, as it was believed to encourage breathing and get the heart working again. By the 19th century, the “smoke enema” was no longer favored by doctors following the discovery of nicotine’s toxicity.

Adams, C.E., Ella Morton

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52points

#8 Early Blood Transfusions

Illustration of unsettling medical devices from the past showing early experimental tools and a distressed patient.

During the 17th century, physicians attempted the first blood transfusions using animal blood. In 1667, French doctor Jean-Baptiste Denis performed the first transfusion of around 12 ounces of lamb’s blood into a teenage boy suffering from a fever. The boy survived and recovered, prompting Denis to try the procedure on three others. However, when the third and fourth patients didn’t survive, French authorities banned blood transfusions.

Purmann, Matthias Gottfried,, Purmann, Matthias Gottfried

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51points

#9 Dr. Clark's Spinal Apparatus

Child using an unsettling medical device from the past designed for head and neck support in early medicine.

The spinal apparatus created by Dr Clark in the late 19th century was meant to treat scoliosis. It was designed to be a supportive wooden frame that would enable patients with the illness to walk upright. Allegedly, it was so heavy that patients could barely move in it, pretty much rendering it an ineffective treatment.

SirenaBonita, Pictolic

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48points

One area where we've made just amazing strides is in diagnostic technology. We have imaging technology that allows doctors to peer inside the body with unparalleled accuracy, CT scans, MRIs, PET scans, all of which allow them to detect diseases early, often even before symptoms occur. Combined with advances in genetic screening, physicians can now screen for inherited disease, tailor treatments to the individual's distinct DNA blueprint, and identify risk factors years in advance. This level of precision medicine would have been science fiction just a few decades past.

#10 Hydrotherapy Tanks

Child receiving treatment in an old medical device with nurse assistance, illustrating unsettling medical devices from the past.

During the 1950s polio epidemic, stainless steel hydrotherapy tanks, known as Hubbard tanks, were used as a form of rehabilitation for children paralyzed by the disease. Touted to improve circulation and build muscle strength, the treatment involved immersing a patient in warm water up to their neck. The combination of the water jets, buoyancy, and heat helped them move weak or paralyzed limbs more easily and with less pain. As polio rates declined and new rehabilitation methods emerged, the use of hydrotherapy tanks gradually tapered off after the 1950s.

Mennonite Church USA Archives, Bath Medical Museum

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48points

#11 Co***ne Toothache Drops

Vintage advertisement for unsettling medical device toothache drops from the past, highlighting early remedies and treatments.

These drops were a popular pain reliever and anesthetic in the late 1800s. Before co***ne was made an illegal d**g, many doctors, such as Sigmund Freud, prescribed over-the-counter medicines containing it to all their patients. This was mostly due to its numbing effects and its supposed ability to treat a wide range of illnesses, from depression to toothaches.

The National Library of Medicine, Adam Wenger

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47points

#12 Pre-PET Headgear

Patient undergoing brain scan with an unsettling medical device featuring numerous wires and metal components from the past

This device was built by scientists at the Brookhaven Lab in 1961. Its main function was to detect brain tumors using positron emission. Initially, the headgear would only show the location of the tumors as raw data, but a decade later, researchers found a way to convert that data into actual images of the brain. By 1980, doctors could now observe brain function utilizing modern PET machines developed through extensive research done on the pre-PET headgear.

Brookhaven National Laboratory, Brookhaven National Laboratory

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47points

Surgical procedures have also revolutionized the way treatment is delivered. Procedures that once required large incisions and extended hospital stays are now being done with small cameras and robotic limbs. Recovery times are faster, pain levels are reduced, and patients are living their lives sooner. Surgical robots, for instance, offer unparalleled precision, often surpassing the human hand. These devices aren't substituting physicians, they're amplifying their skill in ways previously unimaginable.

#13 Vibration Therapy

Historic unsettling medical device demonstrating primitive treatment with heavy hammer and metal helmet apparatus.

While vibration therapy was a real treatment from the 1800s, it is alleged that this photo of a man taking a sledgehammer to another man’s head is nothing but a hoax. According to a book on vibration therapy from 1883, the actual treatment involved moving a brush lightly over the scalp in an orderly manner.

dangillmor7187, Politifact

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46points

#14 Circulating Swings

Illustration of unsettling medical devices from the past showing confined patient and operator with mechanical apparatus.

In the early 1800s, William Hallaran invented the circulating swing. It was a chair or bed suspended from a frame that could be spun rapidly using a crank. Patients were strapped in and typically spun around at speeds of up to 100 revolutions per minute, often inducing effects like vomiting, dizziness, or unconsciousness. While some doctors believed them to be therapeutic, the swings fell out of use by the mid-19th century, dismissed as both barbaric and ineffective.

Hallaran, William Saunders, St Finan's Hospital

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43points

#15 The Tallerman–Sheffield Apparatus

Vintage unsettling medical device with patient inside metal enclosure, illustrating eerie tools from the past in medical history.

The Tallerman–Sheffield apparatus, also known as the “human bake oven was a 19th-century hot-air medical device used to treat pain. Patients would lie inside the large metal cylinder with only their heads exposed, while the cylinder was heated to incredibly high temperatures. This “baking” treatment resembled a sauna and was mostly used to alleviate symptoms related to gout, arthritis, and other ailments.

WB Northrop, Wikipedia

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40points

The treatment of chronic diseases has also seen a clandestine revolution. Diabetes, HIV, and coronary disease were all too often once commonly fatal or significantly disabling. And now, with the assistance of sophisticated d***s, wearable health monitors, and continuous glucose monitors, the vast majority can live full, active lives.

#16 Whale Blubber

Men removing blubber from a beached whale, an unsettling medical device related to historic practices.

In 1896, an intoxicated sailor with rheumatism jokingly jumped into a partially open whale carcass. Two hours later, he emerged claiming to be cured. Word of the miraculous whale cure spread rapidly, and rheumatism patients descended on the town of Eden in Australia. For lasting effects of up to a year, patients were said to stay inside a whale for up to 30 hours. The practice faded after a decade, largely due to hygiene concerns, the decline in whaling, and medical advances.

Stevenson, Charles Hugh, b., Jonathan H. Kantor

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40points

#17 Doctors Drinking Patients' Urine

Medieval illustration of doctor explaining early medical devices to patients, highlighting unsettling medical devices history.

As early as 1500 BC, before modern lab testing was possible, physicians used their taste buds to diagnose illnesses. Reportedly, doctors could determine whether a patient had diabetes or not by how sweet their urine tasted. By the late 19th century, this testing method was replaced with more sophisticated blood glucose tests.

muslimisches Erbe, Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford

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38points

#18 Lobotomy

Black and white image of surgeons using unsettling medical devices from the past during a knee operation in a vintage surgical setting.

Lobotomy was a radical surgical procedure touted as a cure for severe depression and other psychiatric conditions in the 1940s and 1950s. Infamous for its crude tools and methods, it involved severing the nerve pathways in a lobe or lobes of the brain from those in other areas. While many patients initially showed signs of improvement, lobotomy often resulted in severe cognitive deficits and personality changes. By the 1970s, numerous countries and several US states had outlawed the procedure in favor of more humane and effective treatments.

Lennart Nilsson, Alvin Goodley

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37points

HIV antiviral therapies have transformed what was once a death sentence into a manageable disease. Pacemakers, stents, and implantable defibrillators extend and stabilize lives that just a couple of decades ago would have been horribly taken.

#19 Breath-Holding Pressure Test

Doctor using unsettling medical devices from the past to measure a patient's lung function in a vintage clinical setting.

The breath-holding pressure test was used in early 20th-century cardiac diagnostics to assess heart function and blood pressure regulation. For the test, patients were required to blow against a mercury column (essentially performing a Valsalva maneuver) to keep the manometer at a set level. This would raise a patient’s intrathoracic pressure while a doctor listened with a stethoscope to observe changes in their blood circulation.

ullstein bild Dtl. / Getty Images, Johnson Francis

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35points

#20 Electric Cabinets

Vintage medical device with patient inside a large enclosed chamber, supervised by a nurse in early 20th century attire.

In the early 20th century, electric cabinets were devices that used either electric bulbs or steam to raise body temperature. As precursors to modern saunas and diathermy, they were used to induce artificial fevers and sweating for conditions like arthritis. While they were common in spas and clinics throughout the 1930s, electric cabinets faded from use as modern medicine advanced.

Library and Archives Canada, Collect Medical Antiques

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35points

Poll Question

What feeling does learning about historic medical devices evoke in you?

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