terpkristin
10-21-2005, 09:20 PM
EF,
I just came across this webpage devoted to a guy's desire to "increase his consciousness" by drilling a hole in his head, a procedure called "trepanation." (Warning for those who might be squeamish, this guy does have pictures of the procedure). hxxp://www.bmezine.com/news/people/A10101/trepan/
The first thoughts that popped into my mind after reading his story were:
1. Wow, is this guy stupid!
2. I wonder where he got the lido/epi cocktail.
The third thought, though, was that I'd seen some show on TV--it was probably Ripley's Believe It Or Not, or something on Discovery Health. I didn't catch the entire show, but I did see a part where they interviewed a woman who had had a dime-sized hole drilled in her skull, for the relief of some medical condition (not brain swelling).
In reading this guy's article at BMEzine, he said that some people seek it out as a "cure" or "treatment" for depression. I was just wondering if there is actually any science to it or if this was sometimes considered a potential treatment for any kind of medical disorder that you might know of. This is purely a curiousity question--to me, it sounds wooly, and a quick web search seems to indicate that there isn't much "proof" that it helps, but was wondering if there was something to it.
All that said, I can't believe the guy did it in his home and had a friend "experienced in percing and cutting" do it. I used to be a member of BME and used to have a fair number of non-ear piercings (all removed, though truthfully there were mitigating circumstances to their removal and they didn't involve needing to remove them for a job), but this is CRAZY, even by my (probably more relaxed than your average person's) standards...
Is there anything to trepanation? Is it actually performed by competent doctors in a real OR or medical setting for some medical purpose? Does it work for said medical purpose?
Totally random, I know.
/tk
I just came across this webpage devoted to a guy's desire to "increase his consciousness" by drilling a hole in his head, a procedure called "trepanation." (Warning for those who might be squeamish, this guy does have pictures of the procedure). hxxp://www.bmezine.com/news/people/A10101/trepan/
The first thoughts that popped into my mind after reading his story were:
1. Wow, is this guy stupid!
2. I wonder where he got the lido/epi cocktail.
The third thought, though, was that I'd seen some show on TV--it was probably Ripley's Believe It Or Not, or something on Discovery Health. I didn't catch the entire show, but I did see a part where they interviewed a woman who had had a dime-sized hole drilled in her skull, for the relief of some medical condition (not brain swelling).
In reading this guy's article at BMEzine, he said that some people seek it out as a "cure" or "treatment" for depression. I was just wondering if there is actually any science to it or if this was sometimes considered a potential treatment for any kind of medical disorder that you might know of. This is purely a curiousity question--to me, it sounds wooly, and a quick web search seems to indicate that there isn't much "proof" that it helps, but was wondering if there was something to it.
All that said, I can't believe the guy did it in his home and had a friend "experienced in percing and cutting" do it. I used to be a member of BME and used to have a fair number of non-ear piercings (all removed, though truthfully there were mitigating circumstances to their removal and they didn't involve needing to remove them for a job), but this is CRAZY, even by my (probably more relaxed than your average person's) standards...
Is there anything to trepanation? Is it actually performed by competent doctors in a real OR or medical setting for some medical purpose? Does it work for said medical purpose?
Totally random, I know.
/tk