What are some historical practices?!

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Ligation of the internal mammary artery as treatment of angina. It was showed that the symptom relief was attributable to the placebo effect, and did not in anyway improve blood flow through the coronary arteries.

Coffee enemas were speculated to eliminate toxins by way of the biliary tract. It was completely useless, and was abandoned in the early 1970'ies. However there are still some alternative practitioners who (wrongfully) clam that it is useful as cancer treatment.

Bloodletting and the use of leeches to drain massive amounts of blood were very common. Conventional doctors also gave people huge doses of mercury and arsenic and then blamed the patients when they died -- their disease was "too advanced" to be cured. "Useless" isn't exactly the word that comes to mind... the treatment was worse than the disease!
Patent medicines were mostly composed of alcohol, cocaine, heroine and opium. Did they cure anything? No more than the junk that's being peddled today.

Mercury poultices were common (this is where the term quack comes from. Quicksilver, or mercury, was also known as quack salva).
The cure for a broken ankle 150 years or so ago was to cut your foot off.

A T Still developed Osteopathy in the late 1800's because medicine was just as likely to kill you as cure you. He was a practicing Medical physician in the US and lost 3 of his children to meningitis and wanted to develope a system of medicine which was based on enhancing the bodies ability to heal itself without the use of drugs.

Medicine has moved on since then....
SO HAS OSTEOPATHY!

Although a troll who has answered here has been told this many times, osteopathic principles have nothing to do with germ theory denialism.
Some Osteopaths may support Homeopaths but it is not standard practice or part of our training. They are very different treatment modalities and very different in philosophy. He knows this but likes to misrepresent and deceive.

This troll is an Engineering graduate who knows almost nothing about conventional medicine and less about altmed.

NZ registered Osteopath

Unfortunately some of the quack medicines are still in use today. Instead of the four humours involving bloodletting and purging there's now Ayurveda with 5 humours. Osteopathy with their belief in homeopathy and lack of belief in the germ theory is another one still with us.

It was Ignaz Semmelweis a Hungarian practicing in Vienna who introduced cleanliness in medicine, not Pasteur

Most of the bad medical procedure have been left behind the good are still in use.And even the good procedure have been improved. Cleanness was actually a late development, Thanks to Louis Pasteur. Diet especially medicinal foods like herb teas. Were good. Sad thing Medicine has shown us that life style is medicine and a bad life style is bad medicine. Avoid tobacco, sugar, alcohol,salt, excessive red meat and fats. Get more exercise don't use illegal drugs don't take unnecessary risk, practice good dental hygiene and you will probably have fewer sick spells, and live a longer richer life.