From goat's cheese to rose oil baths: how intimate diseases were treated in antiquity

Ancient physicians described in detail how the genitals are organised, how to treat them and what to avoid, according to The Conversation.

Some of their advice sounds absurd, but one opinion is still relevant today: you should not hesitate to go to the doctor with delicate problems.

The Greek physician Soranos of Ephesus (2nd century AD) in his treatise "On Gynaecology" described the structure of the female genital organs with a precision surprising for his time:

"The vagina is a membrane, almost round, wider inside than at the entrance; the outer parts are called lips and are like mouths, dense and fleshy."

Authors of antiquity tried to explain male physiology as well. In the treatise On Genesis (5th century BC), an unknown author wrote that during arousal the body "heats up, secretes moisture, and it turns into semen." Such descriptions combined observations with philosophical speculation, sometimes quite poetic.

Ancient physicians paid special attention to the female body. Soranos advised menstruating girls to rest, refrain from bathing and intense exercise.

For girls expecting their first menstruation, the doctor recommended light walks, massages, reading and warm baths. For those entering menopause, he advised the same to prevent "harm from the sudden cessation of bleeding."

But Soranos was cautious about sex: in his opinion, intimacy is permissible only for the sake of conception, because it "does not harm the man, but can be dangerous for the woman".

The writer and philosopher Plutarch noted that many people are embarrassed to talk about genital problems, even if the disease is life-threatening:

"Some would rather die than show a doctor a hidden ailment," he wrote, citing cases of tumours and abscesses in intimate areas.

Ancient physicians offered dozens of ways to treat intimate diseases. Galen treated priapism (prolonged involuntary arousal) with laxatives, fasting and hot baths.

A woman doctor named Aspasia recommended not to perform surgery for uterine ruptures, but to use seated warm baths and special candles with lead or antimony powder.

And Pliny the Elder assured that powder made from goat's cheese helped with inflammation of the genitals - advice that today only brings a smile.

Some treatments were shocking. The Roman physician Celsus described surgery for phimosis: "An incision is made under the foreskin up to the frenulum, and if that is not enough, a triangular area is cut out."

Physician Paul of Aegina (VII century) advised in case of cervical abscess to make a cut and apply a bandage smeared with rose oil.

Our ancestors paid no less attention to the health of the intimate zone than modern doctors - even if their methods today cause surprise and sometimes horror.