Regency Health and Medicine: Remedy for Ringing in the Ears

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For a Noife ar Ringing in the Ears Drop oil of bitter almonds mixed with oil of claves on a little cotton squeeze it into the ear and lie fome time on the contrary fide do this when you go to bed and drink wine mixed with rosemary to make you sweat keep yourself warm and the ear closed up

This recipe appeared in The Ladies Best Companion; Or, a Golden Treasure for the Fair Sex (1800). Pretty sure this won’t cure tinnitus, but its interesting nonetheless.  Especially the rosemary = sweating part.

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2 Responses to Regency Health and Medicine: Remedy for Ringing in the Ears

  1. Nancy Mayer says:
    August 26, 2023 at 8:35 am

    I think Bitter Almonds is poisonous, but oil of cloves on cotton in the ears was still considered a remedy for ear aches and other ear problems when I was a child.

    • Anne says:
      August 26, 2023 at 2:22 pm

      Thanks for sharing, Nancy. Bitter almonds, in the raw, can contain traces of prussic or hydrocyanic acid, basically the organic version of cyanide. I am assuming to obtain the oil there was some kind of cooking of the bitter almonds which would have dissolved the prussic acid, but I could be wrong. I have also heard of oil of cloves being used for toothaches, and think its still a valid homeopathic remedy for ear aches.