In the pre-vaccine era, smallpox treatments were largely palliative and superstitious, offering little real medical benefit. Common historical remedies included bloodletting to "balance the humors," administering herbal concoctions like mercury or saffron to induce sweating, and applying cool poultices to soothe the rash. A curious 20th-century discovery found that red light in sickrooms (from red curtains or blankets) seemed to reduce scarring, though this was poorly understood. Isolation through quarantine and variolation—the risky practice of deliberately infecting individuals with smallpox matter to induce milder disease—were the only somewhat effective interventions. While quarantine successfully limited transmission, most "treatments" merely alleviated symptoms like fever and itching without changing the disease's course, highlighting the desperate need for the eventual vaccine.