Within the Enlightenment period, as well as before, faith healing was a common practice that took place. Faith healing was a type of healing that would involve collecting roots, herbs, and other plants in order to treat certain types of diseases that would infect people. However, many faith healers and their patients believed that sickness was cause by evil spirits that were lodging within them. The only way to successfully remove these spirits was to exorcise, or drive out the offending devil. This type of healing however did lose some credibility throughout the Enlightenment but did stay very popular in the countryside.
Although this practice screams lies it did allow for vast amounts of herbs, drugs, and patent medicines to be sold in towns and cities. In the eighteenth century many of these medicines were created from imported plants. The importation of these plants and spices lead to an increase in the amount of money England was spending to 100,000 pounds from 1000 or 2000 pounds in 1600. Faith healers much like clothes and food, was added to the era's new commercial culture which allowed them allowed them to spread publicity in newspapers as well as commercial circulars.
Although the Enlightenment brought about a new way of looking at science it did not change medicine all that much from the medieval age. In fact many physicians still heavily relied upon purging, and bloodletting to heal people who are suffering from an illness. Time honored tradition also played a vital role in why common medical practices did not advance through the Enlightenment. In fact, it wasn't until the late 19th century that significant medical breakthroughs would even begin to happen.
http://www.macmillanhighered.com/launchpad/mckaywest12e/5021786
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