Random Horrific 20th Century Quack Medical Devices That Contained Radium (15 items)

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  (#4) Men Placed Wax Coated Radium Rods In Their Urethras As A Cure For Impotence

  Men have always struggled with impotence. Now, there are medications like Viagra; back in the early 1900s, there were "bougies." These were radium-laced wax rods that men inserted directly into their urethras to treat impotence. This treatment is now cringe inducing not only because of the way it took place, but also because placing radioactive material close to reproductive organs is a very bad idea. 
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  (#14) Uranium Blankets Helped With Arthritis Pain

  These days, uranium blankets are a part of nuclear reactors, and they aren't even a little bit related to the therapeutic ones touted as cures for arthritis pain in the early 20th century. Those particular blankets looked like standard, quilted ones, only, within the fabric squares, were bits of uranium. These blankets were sold as cures up through the 1950s, even after the dangers of uranium exposure were well known. 
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  (#10) Radium Emanation Bath Salts Cured Insomnia

  Radium bath salts, which worked like modern-day bath salts – as in you dissolve them in your bath water before soaking in them – were sold as a cure for insomnia, various nervous disorders, and even rheumatism. What made them even worse (from a modern perspective, of course) was the fact that dissolving the radioactive bath salts would send small particles of them into the air, where they were also breathed into the lungs. These products were made by several different manufacturers, including the Denver Radium Service on what is now a Superfund site. 
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  (#15) Radium Tonic Prevented Gray Hairs

  A product called Caradium was created in the early 1900s. It was a tonic that was applied to hair to prevent gray hairs from growing, thanks to the power of its active ingredient – radium. It also promised to make any current gray hairs revert back to their old color. Caradium was the invention of Frederick Godfrey, a man whose credentials included "hair specialist." 
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  (#6) Radithor Supposedly Cured Impotence And Other Health-Related Woes

  Radithor was a radium- and thorium-laced water that was sold in small vials. A few drops of it a day could cure impotence and "restore vigor" – or, so it purported to be the case. The product was made by Bailey Radium Laboratories of East Orange, New Jersey, who actually encouraged users to disprove its claims of containing the radioactive substances. The product was removed from the market after one heavy user who reportedly went through around three vials a day of the stuff, playboy Eben Byers, died a horrific death when his jaw disintegrated. 
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  (#1) Radium-Lined Cups Were Used To Make Radioactive Beverages

  These days, people drink bottled or filtered water. Back in the early 20th century, those who could afford it drank radioactive water. One popular way of making this water, which supposedly could cure many different ailments, involved the use of a metal cup or container that was lined with radium. Any water poured into the vessel was exposed to the radioactive material and picked up its properties. The Revigator was one such device; its makers claimed that it contained radon. Of course, this only "worked" if the device actually contained radium – many of the "radioactive" medical marvels on the market were scams. 

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