Burning Up

According to medieval manuscripts, 12th-century surgeons had a particularly gruesome way of treating this common ailment: they would burn the hemorrhoids away with a cautery iron. Ouch! A cautery iron is a heated metal instrument that was used to burn tissue, cauterizing the wound and sealing it shut.

The idea behind the treatment was that by burning away the hemorrhoids, the patient would be relieved of their symptoms and the wound would heal more quickly. While this may sound like a horrifying and painful experience, it was actually considered a relatively common and accepted medical practice at the time.