These widespread practices in the Wild West show how wild the times really were

By YEET MAGAZINE | Updated 1408 GMT (2208 HKT) September 29, 2021

A powerful purgative

One of the favorite treatments of physicians practicing in the Old West was the generous prescription of strong purgatives.

A practice so widespread and frequent, in fact, that it bordered on danger and could lead to predictable unpleasant results. One of these drugs, ipecac syrup, caused profuse vomiting. The idea was, you see, that purging the body would fight a disease. But as you can imagine, modern doctors certainly wouldn't recommend doing this today.