Before Viagra, Cialis and Levitra, understanding how to treat erectile dysfunction (ED) was anybody’s guess. Of course, thousands of years ago, the theories for what was behind the cause of impotency weren’t exactly what we’d think of today as medical causation.
Men were cursed by the gods, under an evil spell, possessed by demons or experiencing an imbalance of yin and yang.
So what realistic treatments did men try
Some ancient treatments made more sense than others. About 2,500 BC, the Chinese were using a potion that contained 22 ingredients.
They must have been doing something right, as it’s reported that the medicine helped the emperor have sex with 1,200 women.
The Chinese also used acupuncture to treat ED, which worked well enough that it’s still being used today.
Egyptians and Mayans used white and blue lotus flowers to treat impotence, likely as an aphrodisiac, as its active ingredient (apomorphine) is used to treat ED today.
What were the crazier treatments
In addition to the lotus flowers, the Egyptians tried many remedies to ward off ED, which they believed was caused by a curse. Among the stranger concoctions: grinding up baby crocodile hearts to rub on the penis.
Around 300 BC, it’s believed that Aristotle discovered “Spanish fly.” Made by drying out beetles, it was used for centuries as an aphrodisiac—until it was determined to be not only ineffective to treat ED, but also too toxic.
Fast forward to 1486, when the world’s best-known witch-hunt manual, “The Malleus Maleficarum” is written. In it, men with ED were told that in order to restore their erections, they had to track down the women who had cursed their penises and force them to reverse the curse.
As late as 1918, a Russian doctor thought ED might be helped by taking tissue from monkey testicles and implanting it in humans.
Luckily, testosterone was identified in 1935, paving the way for today’s treatments.
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