There are several things that were considered odd by western medicine but have been proven much later to be useful. Consider these two examples:
- Stitches during surgery: In Kenya, Uganda and parts of South Africa, doctors or sham-doctors used ants to treat a wound. This was considered odd by western medicine. However, what is interesting was that they used the ants to treat a wound. African fire ants were held over the wound and allowed to bite into the wound in such a way that it allowed the two flaps of skin that was incised, to be held together. The ants body was then twisted off, leaving the head with the mandibles holding the skin together like a suture performed during surgery.
The basis of this practice thus enables healing to proceed rapidly and seals the wound and reduces infection. Till the use of suturing was discovered, this was the best way to close a wound.
- In the days of ships, eyesight to see things and visualize things from far was considered very important. If you could see the ship of your enemy from quite a distance away then it would enable you to take appropriate steps. With the vision considered so important, the pirates believed that piercing the ears and wearing an earring improved eyesight. This idea was rejected and was not considered relevant. In modern times, acupuncture therapy has shown benefits in cases in which medicine has not been shown to be very useful. Interestingly, the point on the earlobe that is important for eyesight are very close to the point where the ear was punctured for the earring.