ThaT suCks
If you had a nosebleed in early Tudor times, you’ d probably pop to the barber’ s to get some leeches.
Sorry, some what? Ed.
Long, dark, wiggly, wormy things that suck your blood.
Vampire worms?! No way!
The Tudors thought a nosebleed was caused by too much blood in your body … and the only cure was to make you bleed even more to balance things out!
Wealthy people might visit a professional physician, who would carefully cut the skin to drain some blood, but most people would pop to their local barber, who kept a jar of greenish-brown medicinal leeches, Hirudo medicinalis, for just such an occasion.
ThaT suCks
Medicinal leeches? Would they … EAT them?
Nope, more like the other way round. When you put a hungry medicinal leech onto human skin, it injects an anaesthetic so you don’ t even feel it biting. Sneaky. Leech saliva( spit) contains an anticoagulant, which stops the blood clotting and forming a scab … so it can keep slowly sucking until it’ s full. That takes about one to two teaspoons of blood and makes the leech about ten times heavier!
Leeches weren’ t just used for nosebleeds; they were used to treat( but not necessarily cure) everything from fevers to eye problems. A cost-effective, sustainable, painless way to deal with every Tudor lurgy – even if it wasn’ t very scientific!
UNBE-LEECH-ABLE FACT
These amazing creatures are usually found in freshwater ponds and streams, where they might be hiding under dead leaves or feeding from fish or amphibians( like frogs).
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