In 1898, a German surgeon wanted to prove that it was possible to numb only the lower half of the body — so he simply tested the idea on himself and his assistant.

Kiel, Germany. August 1898.

Imagine your boss walks into the office one morning and says:

“Today, we’re going to try something completely new.”

You ask, “On whom?”

He looks at you. Then at himself.

And replies, “On us.”

That is how one of the wildest stories in medical history began.

The idea was actually brilliant

At the time, doctors were searching for a way to perform surgery without pain — but without putting patients completely under general anesthesia.

The big question was: Could they numb only the lower half of the body?

Today, we call this spinal anesthesia.

Back then, nobody knew whether it would work at all.

One brave surgeon

The man behind the idea was August Bier.

A German surgeon. Curious. Determined. And apparently not too bothered by pain.

He did not want to test the new technique on patients first.

He wanted to test it on himself.

The plan

Bier sat down.

His assistant, August Hildebrandt, was supposed to insert a hollow needle between two of Bier’s lower vertebrae until it reached the space containing the cerebrospinal fluid.

Today, this would be a routine procedure.

Back then, it was completely uncharted territory.

Even thinking about it was enough to make your heart race.

Then something unexpected happened

The needle was in place.

But suddenly, cerebrospinal fluid began to leak out.

More and more of it.

Bier worried that the experiment could no longer be properly evaluated.

So he made a spontaneous decision:

“Then we switch.”

Now the assistant would receive the spinal anesthesia.

And Bier took over the needle.

This is where things got truly wild

The anesthetic seemed to be working.

But how could they know for sure?

Today, we would gently test whether someone could feel warmth, touch, or cold.

In 1898, they took a slightly more… hands-on approach.

Possibly the strangest scientific test of all time

First, they pinched his legs.

No reaction.

Then they pricked him with a needle.

Still nothing.

So they took things up a level.

• They hit his shin with a hammer.
• They pulled hard on his legs.
• They pressed a burning cigar against his skin.
• And yes: They even pulled hard on his testicles.

The assistant endured all of this with surprisingly little concern.

Today, almost any ethics committee would probably struggle to breathe after reading this. Back then, it counted as serious scientific research.

Did it actually work?

Yes.

The assistant did not feel the pain.

The spinal anesthesia worked.

For the first time, it had been shown that the lower half of the body could be selectively numbed while the patient remained awake.

It was a medical sensation.

But it did not come without consequences

The next day, August Bier developed a severe headache.

Not just a mild headache.

It was so bad that he could barely stand up.

Today, we know why.

Cerebrospinal fluid had leaked through the tiny hole made in the membrane around the spinal cord. This lowered the pressure of the fluid that normally cushions and protects the brain and spinal cord.

Today, this is known as a post-dural puncture headache.

Almost every anesthesiologist knows about this risk.

Back then, nobody did.

Bier later described his symptoms in great detail — helping doctors understand this side effect for the first time.

Why was this experiment so important?

Because one wild idea became one of the most important techniques in modern anesthesia.

Today, thousands of spinal anesthetics are performed around the world every single day.

For example, during:

• 👶 Cesarean sections,
• 🦵 knee and hip surgery,
• 🩺 procedures involving the legs or lower abdomen.

Many patients can even talk to their medical team throughout the procedure — without feeling pain.

Would anyone do this today?

Absolutely not.

Thankfully.

Today, new medical techniques must be carefully reviewed and tested.

This includes:

• ethics committees,
• study protocols,
• safety requirements,
• and a careful assessment of the risks and benefits.

Self-experimentation is extremely rare today.

And that is a very good thing.

Did you know? 💡

August Hildebrandt later wrote about the experiment himself.

He described the tests they performed in an amazingly matter-of-fact way.

What sounds unbelievable today was considered serious science at the time.

Thanks to these detailed records, we know exactly how this early spinal anesthesia experiment unfolded.

Myth or fact?

Myth: Spinal anesthesia was first tested on patients in an ordinary clinical setting.

Fact: One of the most famous early experiments was performed on August Bier and his assistant, August Hildebrandt.

They tested the technique on themselves first — using methods that would be almost unimaginable today.

Traumarzt takeaway: Medical progress sometimes begins with one brave idea. Thankfully, today it no longer requires hammers or experiments on yourself.

Our conclusion

When August Bier decided to test a new form of anesthesia on himself in 1898, he probably had no idea that it would one day become a standard technique in modern medicine.

The first spinal anesthesia experiment was brave.

A little crazy.

And from today’s perspective, almost impossible to believe.

But it showed that major breakthroughs sometimes begin when someone is willing to step into completely unknown territory.

Today, millions of people benefit from this idea every year — under safe conditions, with modern technology, and with much gentler testing methods.

Thankfully.

Sources

• Bier A. Experiments on the Cocainization of the Spinal Cord. German Journal of Surgery. 1899;51:361–369.
• Hildebrandt A. Contemporary account of the self-experiment, published together with August Bier’s paper.
• Greene NM. History of Spinal Anesthesia. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins.
• The Evolution of Anaesthesia.
• Miller RD et al. Miller’s Anesthesia. Chapter on the history of regional anesthesia.