Trepanation has always held a fascination as a medical
oddity practice since the dawn of time.
Very early man practiced cutting holes in the skulls of “patients” and
some of them survived to go back and have several more holes cut.
The exact reason why trepanation began in great antiquity is
not known. Anthropologists theorize it
may have been shamanistic as much as medical.
Opening the skulls may have let evil sprits out, which may have been
manifested as headaches, or perceived demonic possession, perhaps mental
illness. The point is that it must have
been survivable and worked in some cases for it to be added to the list of
medical/witch doctor treatments.
Trepanation continued to be practiced well out of the
Paleolithic and into the Neolithic era and on into the Bronze Age, up to the
present time. The reasons may have
changed, but the basic techniques have not:
you cut a hole in a person’s skull to gain a benefit for the
patient. Whether it is medical,
spiritual, shamanistic or psychic, the practice continues to this day.
The original tools were sharp stone tools such as flint or
obsidian cutters. Anesthesia didn’t
exist until the middle 19th century so trepanation was just one
operation among others, such as amputation, that had to be done while the
patient was able to feel pain. The
tools evolved from stone to bronze to iron to surgical steel and the forms of
the tools took on a specific look for the very specific task of head
boring. Elaborate trepanation tools in
cases were available to surgeons and many sets still exist and are collected
today.
Outside of the shamanistic reasons for cutting holes in
people’s heads, there are very real reasons for modern surgeons to perform this
operation, such as preparation for brain surgery, relief of pressure and the
like. The present term for such an
operation is craniotomy rather than the old-fashioned trepanation with its
negative connotations.
There still continues to be a folk medicine movement
involving trepanation for psychic or pseudo-science reasons. I was rather surprised to find that there is
a strong movement for non-medical trepanation and even for self-trepanation.
All of you folks who enjoy an occasional horror movie or play
the H. P. Lovecraft inspired role playing game, Call of Cthulhu, might find the
information and links of some use in the Arkham Sanitarium. For those few of you who are contemplating
trepanation at home for fun and profit, keep up your medical insurance
payments, you’ll need it.
CoastConFan
The bottom line is:
Kids, don’t try this at home!
ADDITIONAL LINKS
Thanks ggreat post
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