Did Jews avoid using products made of pigs as medical materials? "And the swine ... it is unclean unto you" (Deut. 14 : 8).
Medical and halakhic literature in medieval and modern times teach us that healing by porcine produce was used quite extensively. Medical materials made of pig were mentioned in Jewish manuscripts in Christian and Islamic territories. We assume that, in fact, they were in wider usage in Europe, where the pig was common. Much of the permitted uses seem to involve external application and there was little ingestion orally unless there were compelling reasons. The Jewish medical literature mentions many treatments using pig products, such as: the fat for skin diseases, diaphoresis; bile for gynecologic problems; dung to stop bleeding in circumcision and drinking urine for kidney stones.
Abraham Ofir
AO
Shemesh
D000352:Africa, Northern; D000818:Animals; D005060:Europe; D049668:History, 15th Century; D049669:History, 16th Century; D049670:History, 17th Century; D049671:History, 18th Century; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049690:History, Ancient; D049691:History, Medieval; D006801:Humans; D007585:Jews / Q000266:history*; D007599:Judaism; D008419:Materia Medica / Q000266:history*; D008877:Middle East; D013552:Swine
D008419:Materia Medica