▲Of course our ancestors used their hands to eat. This practice only fell into disuse in western society around the 16th and 17th centuries.

▲Communal baths were common in the Middle Ages, and people often didn't bother bathing, seeing as water was often reused. So, lots of people just bathed once a year.

▲Before the invention of toilet paper, people used a range of different things. Native Americans used small stones, oyster shells, bark, and even dry grass.

▲Before oral hygiene was studied and understood, doctors believed that dental pain was caused by small worms living inside teeth. To get rid of these worms they used candle smoke.

▲Leeches were commonly used to drain blood. It was widely believed that many illnesses were caused by excess blood in the body.

▲The wigs worn by the aristocracy from the 15th century until the 18th, often attracted lice and nits.

▲These wigs smelled horribly, as animal fat was used to mold them. Not only that, the fat made the wigs extremely flammable, making candles very dangerous to be around.

▲As The Telegraph reported in 2007, a 17th century medical handbook was found which encouraged men to use chicken faeces on their scalps to cure baldness, bad breath, lice, and infertility.

▲Moss was sometimes used during menstruation, possibly as a kind of tampon, in medieval times.

▲A popular ancient technique to stop the bleeding from a serious wound was applying burning hot metal. This method prevented infections to blood flow but it caused serious pain and damage to the skin.

▲According to Ancient-Origins, women in Ancient Egypt used crocodile droppings as birth control. Crocodile droppings are alkaline, so this technique may have worked.

▲People used to keep a chamber pot under the bed for when they had to pee in the middle of the night. The pot would stay there all night until the next morning.

▲In the Middle Ages, it wasn't unusual that your barber would also be your doctor/healer and even dentist.

▲Tools used for surgical procedures, which often involved a lot of blood, weren't cleaned and disinfected before being used again.

▲According to the North American National Library of Medicine, washing your hands wasn't a regular occurrence until 1846, when a Hungarian surgeon, Ignaz Semmelweis, discovered the connection between frequent hand washing, and a drop in infections in his patients.

▲According to a World Health Organization document, it was common in Europe to wash clothes with urine. Despite the smell, there was some basis for it. Urine contains ammonia, a component used in most cleaning products.

▲In Medieval England, one of the most prestigious jobs somebody could have in the court was to bring the King's pot and clean it afterwards. This person was seen as somebody of high standing and no stigma was attached to this job.

▲Mercury was used in lots of Medieval medical treatments. Now its use is prohibited in most countries, and even thermometers containing mercury are being taken off the market due to the danger of mercury.

▲Freckles used to be seen as something that needed to be treated. So sulfur was rubbed on the face of freckled people, but it just irritated their eyes.

▲It used be common practice for noblewomen to wash their face with urine. It was believed to work as an anti-septic and help to clear up skin. As gross as it may be, it didn't cause any health problems.

▲In general throughout history, people often wore the same outfit for days or even months. Even the Kings of the 16th century spent long periods of time in the same threads.

▲Human faeces were thrown into open holes in the ground and left to rot. This led to the spread of countless infectious diseases.

▲In Medieval times, flowers were put around the house to mask the smells caused by general lack of hygiene.

▲As well as putting flowers around the house, people often carried bouquets of flowers around with them, which hid peoples' natural unwashed smell.

▲It wasn't common to clean the floor in Medieval times. Whatever fell there, stayed there. This was the same for all social classes. Usually some straw would be put over the dirty area. You can imagine the smell this caused in houses as well as the amount of germs and vermin.

▲Back then, there was no efficient way of taking care of teeth, so a lot of bizarre methods were used over the years. Among them were using wine, or the ashes of burnt weeds. As you can imagine, rotten teeth were extremely common.

▲While Queen of England, Elizabeth I used makeup called 'Venetian Ceruse.' It was a lead-based product which whitened the skin. Elizabeth I used this 'makeup' every day.

▲Ancient Egyptians believed a dead mouse in the mouth helped relieve tooth pain. The mouse was often ground up and mixed with other ingredients, then put on the source of pain, according to CBS News.

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The world is constantly evolving, which means new products and technologies are invented that help us keep our personal hygiene at its peak. In the Middle Ages and Ancient Egypt people took care of their personal hygiene in ways which nowadays just seem bizarre.
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