Yes, exactly like a hole in the head!

October 16, 2008 6:05 AM

[Warning: Not Safe For the Squeamish] "An Illustrated History of Trepanation": Although the reasons for trepanning and the instruments used for the procedure differ with time and from culture to culture, the result is always the same: a hole in the head, usually made when the individual was fully conscious and, often, unanaesthetized. • • From an interview with Heather Perry, who trepanned herself: "I used a hand trepan initially, but that wasn't proving to be terribly successful. Then there was a problem with the people who owned the property we were staying in, so we decided we'd have to just leave it. I wrapped my head up in a towel and we got out of there. A couple of days later, we had another go. We abandoned the hand trepan and got an electric drill instead." • • And, of course, the home version of the game.

Trepanation has been practiced for a long time, and across cultures. The Incas were practitioners: "A new study by two American anthropologists now provides evidence that the Incas performed trepanation to treat head injuries; that the procedure was far more common than was previously thought; and that the Incan practitioners of trepanation were highly skilled surgeons with a detailed knowledge of the anatomy of the skull."

Today we are more clinical about the procedures involved in messing with the skull to affect the contents therein, but only sometimes. Heather Perry followed in the footsteps of many other relatively recent self-trepanners:
• Bart Huges, who advocates self-trepanation based upon his theories about the amount of blood flowing in your brain or some jazz like that... here's an interview.
• Huges' disciple Pete Halvorson, who directs the International Trepanation Advocacy Group [website defunct, unfortunately, but here's a 1998 WashPost article and a 1999 Salon article.
• husband-and-wife Joey Mellen and Amanda Fielding, "The People With Holes in Their Heads"
• and this dude who kept an extensive diary and q&a about his self-trepanation. "This weekend I had a hole drilled through my skull... We were using a flex-shaft Dremmel with a ball burr and a flame-shaped burr. The process would turn the bone and marrow to dust which would be rinsed away as we went, down to the meninges, at which point the brain would be pulsating visibly as our sign of success..."(Spoiler: he wasn't satisfied, wouldn't do it again, but hey.)

There is a documentary called, guess what: "A Hole in the Head". (I know, huh?! They must have tweaked that part of the brain that comes up with the new-and-unexpected documentary titles).
• Here's their trailer
• Clip 1: Trepanning in Africa (SQUICK FACTOR 9.7)
• Clip 2: interviews with DIY-trepanners
• Clip 3: The Beatles' purported interest in trepanation. (spoiler: Turns out Huges sez John Lennon already had third eye, didn't need a trep whutevah kthxbai.)

Of course, the internet wouldn't be complete without www.trepanationguide.com

This FPP was inspired by louche mustachio's comment and nickyskye's reply in nicky's own holes-in-heads post. Previously, previouslier, previousliest. Via Neurophilosophy.

posted by not_on_display (68 comments total)

When are people going to get it through their thick skulls that self-trepanation is a bad idea?
posted by Abiezer at 6:10 AM on October 16, 2008 [18 favorites]

Finally, a use for my Dremel!
posted by bondcliff at 6:14 AM on October 16, 2008 [1 favorite]

I need this.
Now with simile!
posted by solipsophistocracy at 6:14 AM on October 16, 2008 [2 favorites]

Thanks for collecting all these great links and resources but I will not be clicking on any of them.
posted by bonobothegreat at 6:16 AM on October 16, 2008 [9 favorites]

This post is great without the image tag.
posted by DU at 6:16 AM on October 16, 2008 [4 favorites]

Eeeeeeeeeeeee (inhale) eeeeeeeeee.............
posted by aramaic at 6:19 AM on October 16, 2008 [1 favorite]

It would be easier if they used a pistol.
posted by Pastabagel at 6:30 AM on October 16, 2008 [1 favorite]

I can't think of trepanation without remembering the Church of Trepanation in Transmetropolitan. Since it's an evangelical church, they can stick an icepick in your head and call it an act of devotion.
posted by Pope Guilty at 6:38 AM on October 16, 2008

Wow, thanks for doing the research for me. I have been working on a short story where the main character did this in an attempt to get at the pleasure center of his brain.

I didn't want the science or the reality to paralyze my writing, so was waiting to finish it before I decided to go back through in an attempt to make it scientifically accurate.

These will be helpful and fun.
posted by cjorgensen at 6:42 AM on October 16, 2008

"What the world needs now, is another folk singer..."
posted by Pronoiac at 6:44 AM on October 16, 2008 [2 favorites]

I had a cough, so I was a bit like a whale - every time I coughed, some fluid would come out of the hole in my head.

No! no no nono no nononoonnononononononoooo!
posted by contessa at 6:50 AM on October 16, 2008 [3 favorites]

Drill, Baby, Drill.
posted by mandal at 6:50 AM on October 16, 2008 [12 favorites]

This FPP was inspired by louche mustachio's comment and nickyskye's reply in nicky's own holes-in-heads post.

And I think nickyskye said it best when she said:

...nnnggg.
posted by nickyskye at 4:59 AM on October 8

Bear in mind, we had already been looking at pictures of fellows with big honking blades and skewers sticking through their faces, but that sums it up, right there.
posted by louche mustachio at 7:02 AM on October 16, 2008 [1 favorite]

Blimey, that "home version of the game" link is a blast from the past (it's a pic I made years ago).
posted by malevolent at 7:02 AM on October 16, 2008 [2 favorites]

This is for the hobbyist who would like to drill holes in their head but couldn't find the appropriate internet resources?

Truly we are in a golden age.
posted by Lord_Pall at 7:18 AM on October 16, 2008

And I think nickyskye said it best

Yes, she hit the nail on the head there.
posted by Elmore at 7:32 AM on October 16, 2008 [2 favorites]

Gatorade: Is it in YOU!
posted by doctorschlock at 7:48 AM on October 16, 2008 [1 favorite]

I need that like I need another hole in my head.
posted by doctorschlock at 7:50 AM on October 16, 2008

I've got this splitting headache!
posted by doctorschlock at 7:50 AM on October 16, 2008

In your head
posted by [NOT HERMITOSIS-IST] at 7:51 AM on October 16, 2008

Trepanning was featured in the movie Pi, which was extremely trippy.

I'm not sure if that was trepanning so much as intentional brain damage. It seemed to me like he was purposefully drilling into his brain rather than only opening up his skull.

Either way, it was definitely trippy.
posted by solipsophistocracy at 7:54 AM on October 16, 2008

Now all we need is a follow up post on lobotomies.
posted by orange swan at 7:54 AM on October 16, 2008

FAiL = NAiL
posted by doctorschlock at 7:55 AM on October 16, 2008

And there's a more exotic kind of nuclear Cranial Tunneling Syndrome, somewhat recapitulating what occurred to railroad worker Phineas Gage.... "On July 13, 1978, [Anatoli] Bugorski was checking a malfunctioning piece of equipment when an accident occurred due to failed safety mechanisms. Bugorski was leaning over the piece of equipment when he stuck his head in the part through which the proton beam was running...."
posted by Kronos_to_Earth at 7:58 AM on October 16, 2008 [3 favorites]

There was another funny article in the fanzine Crank. I laughed for days. One of the illustrations had you turning your Black and Decker drill on its side while you sat on the floor and drilled yourself.
posted by doctorschlock at 8:00 AM on October 16, 2008

Metafilter: It would be easier if they used a pistol.
posted by spirit72 at 8:13 AM on October 16, 2008

The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in DC used to have a mural of body modification practices in different cultures. I was completely obsessed and grossed-out by it as a kid. It included Incan (I think) trepanation. They also had trepanned skulls. Made quite an impression on me.

The mural got painted over at some point, maybe in the 80s? It included earlobe stretching, neck stretching, foot binding, tattooing, and a few other things. Anyone else remember this?
posted by gingerbeer at 8:16 AM on October 16, 2008

I hate to sound like an old coot here, but the whole "hey, let's [drop acid/drill holes in our heads/something quick] to expand our consciousness" bit sounds like people who want something without working for it.

Want to expand your consciousness? Meditate, study philosophy, learn new stuff. The desire for instant gratification, no need to work, just pop the pill or whatever, and *BAM* you'll be on a whole new plane of existence, no work, no effort, no need for you to actually do anything is just plain pathetic.

That some people would be so desperate to expand their minds, yet simultaneously too lazy to actually work to expand their minds that they'll resort to drilling fricking holes in their skulls goes beyond pathetic and into the realms of pathological.
posted by sotonohito at 8:59 AM on October 16, 2008 [4 favorites]

I remember being really fascinated by trepannation years ago when I would read back issues of Body Play during my lunchbreaks at Ye Olde Hipster Record Store.

They must not have described it in quite so much detail, or I have gone very soft in my old age, because if I had been reading some of these links now whilst eating a cheeseburger...wugghhhhh.
posted by padraigin at 9:16 AM on October 16, 2008

I was going to post to say, simply 'fucking idiots', which tends to be my response to hearing about anyone wanting to try trepanning, figured it was pointless and didn't bother.

Then I read a bit of the interview, and it totally changed my mind about the whole thing.


Fucking idiots.
posted by opsin at 9:38 AM on October 16, 2008

I kan haz Trepannashun.
posted by doctorschlock at 9:39 AM on October 16, 2008

Back when my father started to practice neurosurgery in the late 1950s, he used a medical bit and brace, pretty much like carpenters used back then. He would bore a series of holes in the skull in a circular pattern, then thread a wire saw between consecutive holes and use that to saw between them, creating a roughly round plate that was removed for access to the dura mater. He said that with the invention of surgical drills his quality of life improved magnificently.
posted by Mental Wimp at 9:42 AM on October 16, 2008

Until I recently threw it out, I had a book on strange notions on the bookshelf five feet from where I'm sitting. It had a chapter on trepanning, including a description of what it was like from a person who was conscious while undergoing the procedure. Particularly, the moment when the seal was broken, and the round plate of skull was lifted up, letting the air in.

Without describing it too closely, let's just say that for years afterward it left me horrified of noises sounding like SSSSSSCHLURP.
posted by JHarris at 10:09 AM on October 16, 2008

(In retrospect I probably should have gone with the comment in which I claimed to have tried it and didn't see what people were freaking out about, as I've obviously suffered no ill hippopotamuses. I think all hippopotamuses should try hippopotamuses. Hippopotamuses.)
posted by JHarris at 10:13 AM on October 16, 2008 [1 favorite]

I'm familiar with the history of trepanation but I first scanned the disclaimer as "Not safe for the Squamish" and was excited by the prospect of some new findings.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 10:19 AM on October 16, 2008

I'm fairly sure that Trepanning really isn't safe for the Squamish either.
posted by chimaera at 10:30 AM on October 16, 2008 [1 favorite]

Durn Bronzefist: "I'm familiar with the history of trepanation but I first scanned the disclaimer as "Not safe for the Squamish" and was excited by the prospect of some new findings."
chimaera: "I'm fairly sure that Trepanning really isn't safe for the Squamish either."

Are we talking 43-Man Squamish? Because I think trepanation would fit seamlessly into the game, somehow.
posted by not_on_display at 10:50 AM on October 16, 2008

I feel like I've seen the illustrated history of trepanation here before, but I could be hallucinating that. I know I've seen it SOMEWHERE before. Which, I think says perhaps far too much about me and my fascination with outdated "medical" practices.

BRING ON THE LEECHES.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 11:05 AM on October 16, 2008

Be sure to do this in a darkened room if you don't want to risk a light headache.
posted by CynicalKnight at 11:09 AM on October 16, 2008

Yeah, but leeches are useful. Don't they stick 'em on reattached fingers, toes and limbs to improve blood flow? That is real medicine. This maybe not so much.
posted by fixedgear at 11:09 AM on October 16, 2008 [1 favorite]

Igon Spengler must be jealous of Ms. Perry.
posted by Spatch at 11:20 AM on October 16, 2008

Oh jeez. I've been morbidly obsessed with trepanation since I read The Butcher Boy back in college (it was like, barely part of the plot line, I'm just weird). Awesome post! Thanks!
posted by giraffe at 11:44 AM on October 16, 2008

Yeah, but leeches are useful. Don't they stick 'em on reattached fingers, toes and limbs to improve blood flow? That is real medicine. This maybe not so much.

It can relieve the pressure on a swelling brain after a serious head injury.
posted by atrazine at 12:11 PM on October 16, 2008

Andrushko and Verano argue that the Incas performed trepanation primarily to treat head injuries incurred during battle, because the holes are most often found at the front of the skull to the left, consistent with injuries caused by a right-handed opponent during face-to-face combat, and because adult males are overrepresented in the sample. The procedure was evidently used to treat mastoiditis (an infection of the region of the temporal bone behind the ear) as well.


The authors also show that the success rate of the procedure improved with time, as the Inca empire progressed and made advances in medicine. The earliest specimens, dated to around 1,000 A.D., showed no signs of bone growth around the perforations, suggesting that the procedure was often fatal. But specimens dating to around 400 years later suggest a survival rate of around 90%.

By that time, the procedure appears to have been stabdardized, as its practitioners operated only on certain parts of the skull, and avoided other areas, which were likely to result in damage to the meninges (the thick membranes which envelop the brain and spinal cord) or the blood vessels found within the layers of the outer membrane.


The later specimens suggest that there was a very low frequency of infection, and lead author Andrushko says that balsam, and plants containing compounds called saponins, which have soap-like properties and are antiseptic, may have been used to reduce the risk of infection, and that coca, wild tobacco and maize beer may have been used to alleviate the pain.

Thus, this new study provides strong evidence that the Incas performed trepanation for specific medical conditions, and may finally settle the debate about why people in ancient civilizations performed trepanation. It also suggests that the Incas were highly skilled surgeons with a detailed knowledge of cranial anatomy and an awareness of the medicinal properties of various species of wild plants.
posted by atrazine at 12:12 PM on October 16, 2008

whoops, all of that text should be quoted and it comes from one of the links in the post.
posted by atrazine at 12:17 PM on October 16, 2008

sounds like people who want something without working for it... Want to expand your consciousness? Meditate, study philosophy, learn new stuff.... That some people would be so desperate to expand their minds, yet simultaneously too lazy to actually work...

I never thought I would hear the "you should really try meditation" sentiment combined with the equivalent of "GET A JOB, HIPPIE!" but you managed to do it. Cool!
posted by naju at 12:28 PM on October 16, 2008 [2 favorites]

It can relieve the pressure on a swelling brain after a serious head injury.

Yeah, sure, I knew that. I meant the DIY wanna see what it feels like version.
posted by fixedgear at 12:31 PM on October 16, 2008

All those pretty links and I'm never going to click on a single one of them.
posted by tommasz at 12:58 PM on October 16, 2008 [1 favorite]

I remembering reading that article about Pete Halverson in the Washington Post. Over breakfast. I couldn't eat for the rest of the day. It still haunts me. My skull tingles (in a bad way) every time I think about it. *shudder*
posted by ahdeeda at 1:57 PM on October 16, 2008

naju Heh. Never let it be said that I was a normal old coot (at age 34), nope I've managed a whole new area of cootness!

I think for my next trick I'll combine "America love it or leave it!" with a rant against "those fascist pigs!"
posted by sotonohito at 2:15 PM on October 16, 2008 [1 favorite]

Man. This is one of those things I am just going to out and out declare to be a bad idea. Maybe that's a touch reactionary of me, but I'm afraid I'm committed to this and more or less not going to listen to arguments in favor with an open mind.

Also: self trepanation != eating acid/other hallucinogens
posted by kosem at 2:19 PM on October 16, 2008

Apparently, there was a bit too much fluid shifting around, because they'd gone a little bit too far and I was leaking some through the hole, but this wasn't especially dangerous as there are three layer of meninges before you get to the brain.

Oh sweet baby jesus.
posted by Pantengliopoli at 3:23 PM on October 16, 2008 [1 favorite]

For all those who are only going to read the thread:

...There followed a period of embarrassment as the rumour went round London that Joey Mellen had trepanned himself, whereas in fact he had failed to do so. As soon as possible, therefore, he prepared for a third attempt. Proceeding as before, but now with the benefit of experience, he soon found the groove from the previous operation and began to saw through the sliver of bone separating him from enlightenment or, as the doctors had predicted, instant death. What followed is best quoted from Bore Hole.

'After some time there was an ominous sounding schlurp and the sound of bubbling. I drew the trepan out and the gurgling continued. It sounded like air bubbles running under the skull as they were pressed out. I looked at the trepan and there was a bit of bone in it. At last! On closer inspection I saw that the disc of bone was much deeper on one side than on the other. Obviously the trepan had not been straight and had gone through at one point only, then the piece of bone had snapped off and come out. I was reluctant to start drilling again for fear of damaging the brain membranes with the deeper part while I was cutting through the rest or of breaking off a splinter. If only I had an electric drill it would have been so much simpler. Amanda was sure I was through. There seemed no other explanation for the schlurping noises I decided to call it a day. At the time I thought that any hole would do, no matter what size. I bandaged up my head and cleared away the mess.'

There was still doubt in his mind as to whether he had really broken through and, if so, whether the hole was big enough to restore pulsation to his brain. The operation had left him with a feeling of wellbeing, but he realized that it could simply be from relief at having ended it. To put the matter beyond doubt, he decided to bore another hole at a new spot just above the hairline, this time using an electric drill. In the spring of 1970, Amanda was in America and Joey did the operation alone. He applied the drill to his forehead, but after half and hour's work the electric cable burnt out. Once again he was frustrated. An engineer in the flat below him was able to repair the instrument and next day he set out to finish the job. 'This time I was not in any doubt. The drill head went at least an inch deep through the hole. A great gush of blood followed my withdrawal of the drill. In the mirror I could see the blood in the hole rising and falling with the pulsation of the brain.'

The result was all he had hoped for. During the next four hours he felt his spirits rising higher until he reached a state of freedom and serenity which he claims, has been with him ever since.

Serious question: is there some physiological reason for me to reach up high with my arms, or feel a (non-sexual) tingling in my thighs when I read gross-out stuff like that?
posted by stinkycheese at 3:41 PM on October 16, 2008

I needed to hear about this like I need a hole in my head...
posted by msbrauer at 3:50 PM on October 16, 2008

Great thread, not_on_display. If I may though, no trepanation thread can be complete without mentioning Lobsang Rampa and his third eye.

Yes, Cyril Hoskin's writing is not authentic but, if read with this in mind, these can be very entertaining books IMO.

Also this.
posted by stinkycheese at 3:58 PM on October 16, 2008 [1 favorite]

wow. What a labor of love this post is. Bet you now have a PhD in trepanning, not_on_display.

Sometimes putting a post together for the blue is an incredible education, just as much as reading them.

It took me hours before I had the guts to look at any of your links.

But it was worth looking at. Just made my tummy roil.

Can't help wondering of trepanners or the people written about in the book, which included trepanners, Eccentric Lives & Peculiar Notions , is about people with Schizotypal Personality Disorder?

Amanda and Joey, the trepanners of stinkycheese's comment, opened Pigeonhole Gallery. I went to see the kind of artists who exhibited there. Found this miniaturist: Mousterpieces.

is there some physiological reason for me to reach up high with my arms, or feel a (non-sexual) tingling in my thighs when I read gross-out stuff like that?

That's an interesting question. I wonder why trepanning causes pleasant sensations?
posted by nickyskye at 4:17 PM on October 16, 2008 [1 favorite]

nicky: The standard argument I've heard is that trepanation facilitates better blood flow through the brain thereby allowing one to reach one's full potential, or words to that effect.
posted by stinkycheese at 4:30 PM on October 16, 2008

nickyskye: Can't help wondering of trepanners or the people written about in the book, which included trepanners, Eccentric Lives & Peculiar Notions , is about people with Schizotypal Personality Disorder?

Ah! That was the book I had read!
posted by JHarris at 4:49 PM on October 16, 2008

stinkycheese: A link without a description? In this thread?

...

Gah, even jokes about bleaching your brain require a brain bleaching here.
posted by Pronoiac at 4:53 PM on October 16, 2008

For those who mentioned CRANK! 'zine. Supposedly Black and Decker unofficially responded to Jeff Koyen's letter asking which drill bit would be the best to use for DIY trepanation.
posted by BrotherCaine at 5:06 PM on October 16, 2008 [1 favorite]

For whoever commented that people who were too lazy or undedicated to meditate being willing to try this, while I think trepanners are completely insane and profoundly stupid, I don't think you can accurately call them lazy or uncommitted.

They are also clearly willing to suffer pain in their pursuit of this and risk death.

It's a lot easier to take drugs-- though I think people underestimate the dedication and persistence of addicts, also. You may disagree with their choice of goals, but addicts are certainly committed to them and maintaining a habit while poor takes a lot of hustling.

If you just sit around eating bonbons, you aren't going to avoid withdrawal...
posted by Maias at 6:27 PM on October 16, 2008 [1 favorite]

I've always thought trepanation was an interesting phenomenon. I can't imagine doing it, and I would never think of something as stupid as doing it to myself. But it is such a fascinating idea, it captivates the imagination.

Also, when they did it in Rome, on HBO? That was awesome/sick/rad/gross, amirite?
posted by paisley henosis at 7:04 PM on October 16, 2008

nickyskye: What a labor of love this post is. Bet you now have a PhD in trepanning, not_on_display. | Sometimes putting a post together for the blue is an incredible education, just as much as reading them. | Found this miniaturist: Mousterpieces.

O, M, G, Mousterpieces. That's what I love about MeFi, how a comment in some weird-ass thread can lead me to take a few hours here and there and read about people boring holes in their heads, and then to have that effort returned with a find like Mousterpieces.

PhD in trepanation? I do have to admit not having read the whole of that long diary link I posted, but all in all, I feel like I know a whole lot more. The squick factor led me along, too--I couldn't look away, I wanted to look away. (Did you see that extra-squicky footage of the African healer performing the procedure on an older woman?) Sometimes, I thought the people were totally BSI; then again, I thought, who's to say -- they lived through it and felt whatever, and they seem to be otherwise well enough adjusted, at least enough to proclaim contentedness.

But yeah: I love that I learned about trepanation, having hardly given it a second thought before during my life. Next I'm going to start looking for anthropomorphized mouse paintings, thank you.

Brother Caine: awesome links! "3. Buy American--I don't know why; standing in the hardware section, though, it seemed like the right thing to think."

stinkycheese: Lobsang Rampa went on to write another eighteen books containing a mixture of religious and occult material. One of the books, Living With The Lama, was claimed to have been dictated to Rampa by his pet Siamese cat, Mrs. Fifi Greywhiskers. I had to read that sentence quite a few times.

Jessamyn got this cool Dremel with all these accessories. I still want to play with it, but I will be sure to keep it away from my skull, kk? Thanks, all!
posted by not_on_display at 9:26 PM on October 16, 2008

Speaking as someone who fainted in public upon reading a description of trepanning in a book on oddball religious cults (the title eludes me), I am so not going to explore any of those links. But it's still kinda cool that there's a post on the subject.
posted by The Ardship of Cambry at 9:39 PM on October 16, 2008

I love lamp.
posted by johnj at 10:49 PM on October 16, 2008

JUST TRIED IT; THE WORLD IS A MASSAGE; I AM THE HORIZON; CANDY IS ILLUSION; OH IF YOU COULD ONLY KNOW; GOD IS PILLOWS UPON PILLOWS
posted by naju at 12:53 AM on October 17, 2008 [2 favorites]

not_on_display, glad you like Mousterpieces. Aren't those charmingly odd?

No, I didn't look at the actual trepanation, "extra-squicky footage of the African healer performing the procedure on an older woman", lol. I'd prefer to keep down the bagel I had for breakfast, thank you very much. I loved that toasted bagel, with sesame seeds, mmm.

But it is interesting -and a shock- to know that people are still doing trepanation, in this day and age. And so brutally. With drills. unnnggg. I remember hearing about trepanation decades ago, seeing photographs of ancient skulls with squares cut out and thinking what monstrous torture that must have been. But now I've read about the neurobiology of 'spiritual' experiences, I wonder if those interested in trepanation aren't trying to find a way to maintain a sense of oceanic bliss without using religion to do it?

Check out electronic, computerized, The God Helmet.
posted by nickyskye at 9:24 AM on October 17, 2008 [1 favorite]

Drill here, drill now.
posted by trinity8-director at 3:06 PM on October 17, 2008 [1 favorite]