Pre-Colombian Medical Tourism

Medical Tourism is an increasing trend. People in the U.S., where the health industry is fairly deplorable (if you haven't seen Sicko, I'd highly recommend it) will travel to other countries to have medical procedures done. Hannaford, for instance, has a program where knee and hip surgery is performed in Singapore. The benefits are many: it's cheap! Sometimes as much as 10% of the original cost. Doctors are trained in either the U.K., Canada or the States and you get a long recovery time in a foreign country. Service tends to be prompt and professional, quicker even than the U.S. Of course, there are downsides. You aren't anywhere near your family, for instance, and should something bad happen you have to navigate a foreign legal landscape.

I'm for it. I'm ardently opposed to the H.M.O. system and our outlandish fees. I'm also none too fond of the fact that the U.S. is one of the only first world countries without universal health care. Seriously, we're behind Cuba. Cuba! The country that just this year got cell phones has better health care than we do. And a fearsome literacy rate.

I'm also for Cuba.

Anyway, this post isn't really about Medical Tourism. Sort of. I mean, you need a time machine for the kind of medical tourism I'm talking about.

It turns out the Incas were surprisingly skilled at trepanation. If you're unfamiliar with that, it's where they remove a bit of your skull to relieve internal pressure. Particularly after receiving a severe blow and the blood starts flowing up there to help you recover.

If you're not into reading the entire article, here are some neat snippets from it:

Shaved Skull

So, the method of making a hole in your skull was to shave away bits of it. They had it down to such a science at the end that the Inca Nation - in a time before electricty, hospitals, vaccinations, penicillin and advil - had a 90% survival rate. 90%! For putting a hole in your skull! They also had a surprisingly low rate of infection afterwards.

Drunken Surgery

So you've lived through the battle but before you could kill that last guy, he gave you one hell of a smack. Time to start drinking. Without anesthetics the preferred method of putting you under was Maize Beer. Which kind of sucks. Not only do you sustain a horrible head injury but during recovery from having bits of your skull chipped away, you're going to have one hell of a mean hangover.

Worked though.

Acceptance

You wouldn't even be the weird guy with the hole in his head! In one site nearly a third of the skulls had trepanation holes. It was the thing to do. Like tattoos, piercings or inserting a magnet into your finger, it's a culturally accepted thang. Ain't even a phenomenon.

When Time Machines are invented, travel back to 1400s Perú and seek out some nifty skull surgery. You'll get to drink Maize Beer, hang out with warring, human-sacrificing tribes and honor llamas.

Here are some other reasons why the Incas were cool:
Fat Kids and Nice tans.

Sun worship! Ha!