Trepanation is one of the oldest know surgical techniques. It was practiced in countries all over the world but seems to have originated from places in and around Europe. Trepanning is the process of drilling, grooving, boring and cutting or scraping a hole, usually no bigger than an inch or so, into a person’s head, therefore exposing the dura matter and allowing brain tissue to freely pulsate –increasing blood flow. Figure 1 shows the four methods, 1-scraping 2-grooving 3- boring and cutting 4- rectangular intersecting cuts. When making the hole, the operator would drill it big enough so that the bones would not fuse back together. People believe cutting a hole into ones skull releases pressures from imbalanced body humors. Others
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After the operation, they would claim to be cured. There are a few different types of trepanation including Prehistoric, Roman, Angelo-Saxon, Later and post-Medieval. Throughout each period, methods of trepanation remained fairly consistent; gouged, scraped or drilled. The practice of drilling a hole into someone’s head hasn’t exactly gone out of style and it doesn’t always have to be as ridiculous as it sounds. Not only did “cure” your imbalanced body humors, but it was also believed to cure epileptic seizures, migraines, and all mental disorders, but was proven an ineffective treatment for all. Trepanation seems to have started back in the Neolithic era and has been practice since then. “Trepanation can be looked upon as indirect evidence that people living approximately 4,000-5,000 years ago during the late Neolithic Period or New Stone Age (which is associated with polished stone tools, community life, farming, and the …show more content…
Carey, author of A Beginner’s Guide to Scientific Method. One rule states that to be considered a real science, the believers and researchers would have to embraces skepticism. But, pseudoscience tends to view the non-believers and skeptics as narrow-minded. “The benefit of trepanation is believed to be increased brain blood volume which makes you expand consciousness.” (trepan.com) Unfortunately, since there is no real way to accurately prove that someone feels better after receiving trepanation, it can’t be considered a genuine science. Another criteria of being a genuine science requires the procedure to be self-correcting, which trepanning is not. The operators make large enough holes so that the bones will not fuse together again. Trepanation is not performed by real doctors. Since the procedure is actually illegal, the doctors would lose their license if they were caught doing it. And since its illegal, real doctors and scientist are not involved, therefore the benefits and issues of trepanation cannot be proven or documented correctly. The last criteria that would need to be covered states “as scientific discipline develops, it will gradually produce a maturing body of explanatory and theoretical findings. Pseudoscience produces very little theory” (psychologywikia.com)
Pete Halverson, leader of ITAG (International Trepanation Advocacy Group) has had the procedure himself and
After the operation, they would claim to be cured. There are a few different types of trepanation including Prehistoric, Roman, Angelo-Saxon, Later and post-Medieval. Throughout each period, methods of trepanation remained fairly consistent; gouged, scraped or drilled. The practice of drilling a hole into someone’s head hasn’t exactly gone out of style and it doesn’t always have to be as ridiculous as it sounds. Not only did “cure” your imbalanced body humors, but it was also believed to cure epileptic seizures, migraines, and all mental disorders, but was proven an ineffective treatment for all. Trepanation seems to have started back in the Neolithic era and has been practice since then. “Trepanation can be looked upon as indirect evidence that people living approximately 4,000-5,000 years ago during the late Neolithic Period or New Stone Age (which is associated with polished stone tools, community life, farming, and the …show more content…
Carey, author of A Beginner’s Guide to Scientific Method. One rule states that to be considered a real science, the believers and researchers would have to embraces skepticism. But, pseudoscience tends to view the non-believers and skeptics as narrow-minded. “The benefit of trepanation is believed to be increased brain blood volume which makes you expand consciousness.” (trepan.com) Unfortunately, since there is no real way to accurately prove that someone feels better after receiving trepanation, it can’t be considered a genuine science. Another criteria of being a genuine science requires the procedure to be self-correcting, which trepanning is not. The operators make large enough holes so that the bones will not fuse together again. Trepanation is not performed by real doctors. Since the procedure is actually illegal, the doctors would lose their license if they were caught doing it. And since its illegal, real doctors and scientist are not involved, therefore the benefits and issues of trepanation cannot be proven or documented correctly. The last criteria that would need to be covered states “as scientific discipline develops, it will gradually produce a maturing body of explanatory and theoretical findings. Pseudoscience produces very little theory” (psychologywikia.com)
Pete Halverson, leader of ITAG (International Trepanation Advocacy Group) has had the procedure himself and