The treatment of shoulder fractures has been discussed since the oldest known surgical text, the Edwin Smith Papyrus (copied c. 1600 BCE). Manipulation followed by extension and bandaging was recommended. Healed fractures have been found, suggesting that patients survived long after their injuries. The Hippocratic writings (c. 415 BCE) recommended heavy traction and countertraction with a wooden rod in the patient’s armpit. After reduction, a linen bandage was applied. Wooden splints were added to the bandage and secured with cerate. This treatment was later interpreted by the Greek physician Galen (129–c. 215) and passed down by Medieval Arab writers. The practitioner used surface anatomy, pain localization, and the sensation of crepitus to guide treatment. Anatomical knowledge was somewhat limited until the Renaissance, and medical writers continued to recommend extension treatment for any fracture or dislocation involving the humerus, even after anatomy textbooks became available. Open surgery was only performed to remove bone splints from compound fractures or to evacuate pus. The surgical books of the mid-nineteenth century still heavily relied on the legacy of Hippocrates and Galen.