History of Wound Care, Part 3. "The Middle Ages, (500 to 1453)"

The Middle Ages (about 500 to 1453), Greco-Roman medicine and its humoral system remained the basis of Western medicine. There came a division between physicians who treated interior disorders and surgeons responsible for treating external wounds and diseases. Over the ages, the greatest degree of training for this rising class of professional surgeons increasingly entailed a university education. This scholarly background was essential at a period in which it was believed that exterior wounds disturbed the equilibrium of the four humours, necessitating a combination of local wound management and systemic treatment.

However, it is essential to emphasize that most injured patients had access to professional physicians or surgeons and most likely sought care from unlicensed local practitioners, for whom we have few surviving records. Formal writings documented a variety of wound healing and dressing techniques. There were nearly as many variations as there were authors, and many were remarkably similar to ancient practices. Wounds were frequently cleansed with wine and bandaged. Most surgeons utilize topical medications such as myrrh, frankincense, and honey, which prevent bandages from adhering to the wound.

The significance of commendable pus was the subject of one of the most intriguing medieval wound treatment disputes. This concept, espoused by Galen, held that pus exudation was important for proper wound healing, which is contradictory to our current understanding yet was widely accepted at the time. Henri de Mondeville and Theodore of Lucca, two prominent medieval surgeons, firmly criticized this idea.

In the Middle Ages, wounds had a vital cultural function in defining the hero. Stories about King Arthur's knights usually describe sword strikes and arrow strikes.





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