Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: cauterization

  • The barber-surgeons: Their history over the centuries

    Anusha PillayRaipur, India “His pole, with pewter basins hung,Black, rotten teeth in order strung,Rang’d cups that in the window stood,Lin’d with red rags, to look like blood,Did well his threefold trade explain,Who shav’d, drew teeth, and breath’d a vein.”– The Goat without a Beard by John Gay Barbers today are primarily engaged in caring for…

  • Scarification: Harmful cultural practice or vehicle to higher being?

    Kenneth Felsenstein Bethesda, Maryland, United States Scarification is the act of “covering, disguising and transforming the body”1 by creating wounds in one’s own flesh in order to cause indelible markings. It is perhaps one of the most misunderstood body modification procedures done today, largely perceived in Western society as a tabooed and harmful cultural practice.2 Superficially…

  • Scarification: Harmful cultural practice or vehicle to higher being?

    Kenneth Michael Felsenstein Bethesda, Maryland, United States Scarification is the act of “covering, disguising and transforming the body”1 by creating wounds in one’s own flesh in order to cause indelible markings. It is perhaps one of the most misunderstood body modification procedures done today, largely perceived in Western society as a tabooed and harmful cultural practice.2…