The Victorian Cure for Everything —  Self-Electrification!

During the Victorian Era, new inventions like the electric telegraph and electric lights were quickly taking hold among the general public. But behind these practical household devices were the more dubious electrotherapeutic inventions that tried to harness that thrilling buzz for the sake of beauty and health. 

One of the most popular and scandalous inventions of the “Electric Era” was the electropathic belt (also known as the “electric belt,” “electric chain” and “electro-galvanic belt”)—a contraption of silver-coated zinc, copper coils, and wires that surged the body with small dosages of electricity. These devices were meant to treat all known diseases and illnesses including exhaustion, impotence, dyspepsia (indigestion), liver disease, nervous disorders, heart disease, hernias, and unsatisfactory sexual performance.

Tens of thousands of electric belts were sold in the United States alone between the 1890s and the 1920s.

Electropathic belt manufacturers continued to reap money from consumers until the Medical Battery Company, one of the leading companies in London, started to unravel under a series of scandalous, heavily publicized court cases.

The investigations revealed that the belts’ currents were so minimal that they hardly registered on galvanometers, many of the product testimonials were found to be fake, and the belts also left behind corrosive salt that caused sores.

Advertisements for electropathic belts began to decline around 1910 and organizations like the American Medical Association started to more vigorously prosecute unlicensed medical sellers. A number of newspapers and magazines—such as Science Siftings, which would eventually become Science—started regular exposé columns that commentated on patent medicines and foods.  

From Atlas Obscura: The Victorian Tool for Everything From Hernias to Sex—a Vibrating Electric Belt