As early as 7000 years ago, one of the alternative medicine practice was boring holes in the patient’s neurocranium with the aim to cure and not to kill. Similar to bloodletting, trepanation was carried out for both medical reasons and mystical practice.

What tools are used for brain surgery?

Modern neurosurgical tools, or instruments, include chisels, curettes, dissectors, distractors, elevators, forceps, hooks, impactors, probes, suction tubes, power tools, and robots.

What’s it called when they drill a hole in your head?

This procedure — also known as “trepanning” or “trephination” — requires drilling a hole into the skull using a sharp instrument. Nowadays, doctors will sometimes perform a craniotomy — a procedure in which they remove part of the skull to allow access to the brain — to perform brain surgery.

What did trepanation treat?

In ancient times, trepanation was thought to be a treatment for various ailments, such as head injuries. It may also have been used to treat pain. Some scientists also think that the practice was used to pull spirits from the body in rituals. Many times, the person would survive and heal after the surgery.

Is Trephination still used today?

Today, neurosurgeons still use trepanation, although for very different reasons. The technique is primarily used for the treatment of epidural and subdural hematomas.

What kind of tools does a neurologist use?

Neurologists require a number of instruments to understand and diagnose patient problems. QuickMedical offers a variety of neurology products including penlights, eye charts, reflex hammers, tuning forks, inclinometers and neurological devices.

Is trepanation a real thing?

Trepanation is really an old term, also known as trephination, according to Dr. Raphael Davis, a neurosurgeon and co-director of the Neurosciences Institute at Stony Brook University. “It’s been done for about 5,000 years, making one of the oldest medical procedures known to the human race,” Davis told Live Science.

Can you survive trepanation?

Many times, the person would survive and heal after the surgery. Researchers have found scarring from trepanation on skeletons, but the holes and injury to the skull had healed, according to research published in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology.

What is the difference between lobotomy and trepanation?

Lobotomy is another surgical treatment that involves drilling a hole in a person’s skull. Unlike trepanation, however, the aim of lobotomy is to sever nerve fibers in the brain that connect the frontal lobe—the area of the brain responsible for thinking—with other brain regions.