(redacted in 500 AD), alluding to the practice, states: "... and the effect of the hot iron comes and removes the traces of the stroke." While mainly employed to stop blood loss, it was also used in cases of tooth extraction and as a treatment for mental illness. In the Muslim world, scholars Al-Zahrawi and Avicenna wrote about techniques and instruments used for cauterization.

As late as the 20th-century, Bedouins