By Early modern medicine and surgery has been repeatedly described as largely ineffective and often painful. Surgery, in particular, in the era before anaesthesia could be very painful and dangerous. If this was the case, how did men in this period cope with the pain of medical treatment? Several historians have
Shameful Exposure
Many of us avoid going to the doctor and it is an often repeated stereotype that men in particular won’t get help for their illnesses unless absolutely necessary. But why is this? For some it is the worry that going to see a doctor will involve exposing the naked body to