I've always heard stories about Ancient Egyptians doing seemingly crazy stuff like using animal droppings to increase fertility or something, or George Washington's death from bloodletting, and I was wondering if in the past it was safer to just not do anything when you were sick, rather than contacting a doctor or healer of any sort.

​

Were there societies where it would have been safer to do nothing than see a healer? If so, when did medicine become advanced to the point where it saved more people than it hurt?

​

Thanks for any answers!