# Trepanation... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [September 7, 2002, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trepanation/127475 "2002-09-07T22:56:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2002, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trepanation/127475/1 "2002-09-07T22:56:51Z")
…a word just _waiting_ to be misused by Dubya. [quoteInvading another foreign country is a matter for great trepanation. Now watch this putt![/quote] :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2002, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trepanation/127475/2 "2002-09-07T23:46:27Z")
What, no column link? Well, maybe a little cranial operation will fix that inability to follow directions, and maybe help your vB coding skills, to boot: [What’s the story on trepanation?](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/020906.html) ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2002, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trepanation/127475/3 "2002-09-08T01:48:09Z")
:slap: Thanks, **whitetho** –Hey! Get away from me with that thing! ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2002, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trepanation/127475/4 "2002-09-08T01:49:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Nametag \* > \*\*:slap: Thanks, **whitetho** –Hey! Get away from me with that thing! \*\* Er, :smack: , that is… ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2002, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trepanation/127475/5 "2002-09-09T07:35:50Z")
Kind of a boring subject. Sorry, _somebody_ had to say it. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2002, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trepanation/127475/6 "2002-09-09T12:19:24Z")
This gets my vote as the sickest subject matter for a Cecil question or a SDMB thread. ---
**Author:** ![Martiju](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@Martiju](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martiju)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2002, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trepanation/127475/7 "2002-09-09T14:08:11Z")
Yeah we need this like a hole in the head… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Arctus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/71c47a/32.png) [@Tom\_Arctus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Arctus)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2002, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trepanation/127475/8 "2002-09-09T14:34:43Z")
Well I was just about to put in that medical doctors used trephanation or something like it as a legitimate procedure as late as the U.S. Civil War. Particularly in cases of depressed skull fractures, where sawing around the fractured bits and elevating them could provide relief from neruological and other symptoms. As long as opening the brain and its lining to infection during the pre-antisepsis era didn’t result in any worse consequences, that is. One hopes the surgeon at least washed his hands. IMHO anyone who performs such a procedure on him or herself does a valuable service along the lines of thinning the herd . . . ---
**Author:** ![hawthorne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2002, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trepanation/127475/9 "2002-09-09T14:53:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by blowero \* > Kind of a boring subject. Sorry, _somebody_ had to say it. But such a great answer. Vintage Cecil. I particularly liked > [@](#): > > […] when the line between health-care provider and murderer was less clear than it is now. > [and] > One thinks with a shudder: Could this be the next goth fad? although I’m surprised the latter hasn’t attracted matt\_mcl’s ire. ---
**Author:** ![Xopi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/3bc359/32.png) [@Xopi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xopi)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2002, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trepanation/127475/10 "2002-09-09T15:54:57Z")
Cecil notes that this is becoming quite a fad… he uses the Washington Post and Salon as proof, but ignores the beacon of cultural fads… The real proof is that TREPANATION KITS are available on EBAY. ---
**Author:** ![Threadkiller](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aca169/32.png) [@Threadkiller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Threadkiller)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2002, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trepanation/127475/11 "2002-09-09T21:41:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Xopi \* > …The real proof is that TREPANATION KITS are available on EBAY. Have to call you on this one… Typed (actually cut and pasted from you post) “TREPANATION KIT” into the Ebay search and came up empty. Shortened it to [“Trepanation”](http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?MfcISAPICommand=GetResult&query=TREPANATION&ht=1&itemtimedisp=1&st=2&SortProperty=MetaEndSort&BasicSearch=++) and got a music CD. Nice try. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2002, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trepanation/127475/12 "2002-09-09T23:25:52Z")
I searched for “trepanning” instead of “trepanation” and found 3 items related to trepanation surgery, all antiques. There is also a metalworking tool there, which I suppose would come in handy if you have a metal plate in your head. ---
**Author:** ![Abe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f1d935/32.png) [@Abe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abe)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2002, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trepanation/127475/13 "2002-09-10T06:38:18Z")
What I want to know is what goes on in the mind of a wilful “trepanee”. First of all, WHY do this? Secondly, doesn’t it hurt like heck? Thirdly, according to Cecil’s article there’s a survival rate of about two thirds for trepanation: Why so high? I would have imagined a lower survival rate, frankly, and am quite surprised that people who drill holes through their skulls to their brains have such a high chance of living through the experience. Really, we ought to be selling them bigger drills. When the trepanation is complete, does the average trepanee head to hospital to get stitched up? Lastly, do trepanators drill themselves multiple times, or is once enough? If the former, I expect these folks to be covered in scars, since a fair amount of skin and flesh has to be sliced and peeled back. I thought Cecil’s piece could have given us a bit more about the mindset of trepanators. Who are these freaks, and why do they do this foolishness? I am reminded of Bob Flanagan’s masochistic antics… ---
**Author:** ![Xopi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/3bc359/32.png) [@Xopi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xopi)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2002, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trepanation/127475/14 "2002-09-12T15:55:11Z")
Old post… but I feel I must defend myself. “Trepanation Kit” was meant to describe the products available, not the search string. I would suppose that a forum dedicated to the abolishment of ignorance would try another search string before attempting to publicly expose a fraud. If people only looked at the surface, this forum would not exist… the Straight Dope column would not exist… life as we know it would not exist… perhaps I’m getting carried away. ---
**Author:** ![cdhostage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@cdhostage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cdhostage)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2002, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trepanation/127475/15 "2002-09-12T21:25:08Z")
WhaT ABOUT that [www.fark.com](http://www.fark.com) link to the guy who did amateur castrations? ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2002, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trepanation/127475/16 "2002-09-12T21:40:11Z")
Trepanation, I suppose, is for folks who find that ordinary piercings just don’t make it anymore. I picture a guy who has a North-wind face tattooed on his shaved head with the bored hole in the tattoo’s mouth. Maybe that singer will change her name to “Gwen Trepani.” Maybe some motorheads will have the hole fitted with an Edelbrock polished magnesium breather cap from Honest Charlie’s. Eeesh! ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trepanation/127475/17 "2002-09-13T03:50:05Z")
I’m oddly reminded of an old SNL parody commercial. _The Leland-Meyers ear drill. We don’t reccomend that you put a drill in your ear, but if you really want to, make it a Leland-Meyers._ That voiceover in combination with the still shot of a guy holding a drill with this bit in his ear and grinning happily had me laughing for days. ---
**Author:** ![mdeck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a87d85/32.png) [@mdeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mdeck)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trepanation/127475/18 "2002-09-13T23:08:43Z")
If you will suffer my digression for a few sentences, one of the most annoying phrases I can think of is the expression, “I could care less.” What the person _means_ is “I couldN’T care less,” but some idiot started saying “could” and now this positive-for-negative substitution is near universal, even among people who know proper English – and are annoyed by similar mistakes when committed by other people. (Aside: I’ve heard it described – by someone with an MA in English – as sarcasm, but I consider it laziness.) I bring it up because of the expression, “I need that like I need a hole in the head.” Is this expression another mis-used expression? Did it start as a positive thing with trepannists (who want a hole in the head), and get its meaning get switched 180-degrees to aversion when it was picked up by the general poplulation? On a related note, when one hears the expression “…like a hold in the head,” how is one to tell (excepting fairly obvious near-lobotomy scars) that one is dealing with a trepannist who actually does WANT a hole in the head? This seemingly innocuous detail could cast many conversations in a completely different light. Please, Cecil, enlighten us! – MDeck ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2002, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trepanation/127475/19 "2002-09-14T11:02:37Z")
**Tom Arctus** said: > [@](#): > > Well I was just about to put in that medical doctors used trephanation or something like it as a legitimate procedure as late as the U.S. Civil War. To my mind that really doesn’t qualify. You’re talking about legitimate medical procedures to deal with skull fractures (remove the broken bits) or cranial hemorraging (let out the pressure). While the line between medical practice and superstitious nonsense (blood pressure vs. evil spirits) is sometimes muddy, it is there, and ignoring it is not in keeping with the Straight Dope. **Abe** , to answer your questions, I hit google. **WARNING** After a long boring account of their lives, this site gives graphic descriptions of the process. Ewwww. Apparently there’s even a video that was made (not online) of one of the events. [http://www.noah.org/trepan/people\_with\_holes\_in\_their\_heads.html](http://www.noah.org/trepan/people_with_holes_in_their_heads.html) > [@](#): > > The founder of the trepanation movement is a Dutch savant, Dr Bart Hughes. In 1962 he made a discovery which his followers proclaim as the most significant in modern times. One’s state and degree of consciousness, he realized, are related to the volume of blood in the brain. According to his theory of evolution, the adoption of an upright stance brought certain benefits to the human race, but it caused the flow of blood through the head to be limited by gravity, thus reducing the range of human consciousness. Certain parts of the brain ceased or reduced their functions while others, particularly those parts relating to speech and reasoning, became emphasized in compensation. One can redress the balance by a number of methods, such as standing on one’s head, jumping from a hot bath into a cold one, or the use of drugs; but the wider consciousness thus obtained is only temporary. Bart Hughes shared the common goal of mystics and poets in all ages: he wanted to achieve permanently the higher level of vision, which he associated with an increased volume of blood in the capillaries of the brain. > > The higher state of mind he sought was that of childhood. Babies are born with skulls unsealed, and it is not until one is an adult that the bony carapace is formed which completely encloses the membranes > surrounding the brain and inhibits their pulsations in response to heart-beats. In consequence, the adult loses touch with the dreams, imagination and intense perceptions of the child. His mental balance > becomes upset by egoism and neuroses. To cure these problems, first in himself and then for the whole world, Dr Huges returned his cranium to something like the condition of infancy by cutting out a small disc of bone with an electric drill. Experiencing immediate beneficial effects from this operation, he began preaching to anyone who would listen to the doctrine of trepanation. By liberating his brain from its total > imprisonment in his skull, he claimed to have restored its pulsations, increased the volume of blood in it and acquired a more complete, satisfying state of consciousness than grown-up people normally enjoy. > The medical and legal authorities reacted to Huges’s discovery with horror and rewarded him with a spell in a Dutch lunatic asylum. That last is my favorite line. As for multiple times, the guy there did to ensure he got a good hole. Plus it took a few tries. [http://www.epub.org.br/cm/n02/historia/trepan.htm](http://www.epub.org.br/cm/n02/historia/trepan.htm) This site discusses it historically, noting cutting holes in the head is old and widespread. It states that in the middle ages some people had it done multiple times - 17 times and 52 times! [http://www.trepan.com/](http://www.trepan.com/) This is a link from a bunch of trepanning proponents. Yes, all these folk have had it done. They go on about the benefits of “blood brain volume” and “pulsations”. Also, there’s a fair amount of lambasting the medical profession for not being willing to perform trepanations. **mdeck** , I doubt the expression came from trepanning. Most likely explanation is that a hole in the head is generally considered a bad thing (things fall out, you know?). Thus, I need that like I need my arm amputated, or a giant spear thrust through my chest, or a hole in the head. Makes sense to me. As for how to tell, they’ll probably tell you. But mostly, it should be clear from usage.