The Yoruba in ancient times were unsurpassed in several areas of medicine. Igbere was a good example. Igbere is the giving of medicine through the skin, derma-therapeutics, also known as the ‘transdermal application of medicines’. In the ancient Yoruba technique, the skin was pierced a number of times with a sharp metal point perpendicularly to the Langer’s lines and a medicine or therapeutic agent was then rubbed into the wounds. Skin piercing was not at random; their locations and numbers depended on the therapeutic intent, whether to prevent disease or to treat disease.
In the preventative Igbere, the skin was pierced along gateways to the body, that is to say, ankles, wrists and top of the head. The aim was to prevent invasion by predicted or impending ill health. Preventative Igbere activated Langerhan and skin dendritic cells, which became immunogenic and produced antibodies and other bioactive chemicals. Soponna (smallpox) vaccination was preventative Igbere.
In the therapeutic Igbere, the skin was pierced at gateways located over the diseased part(s). The aim was to deliver to the ailed part appropriate medicines for one disease or another. Therapeutic Igbere was also used to provide pain relief. Therapeutic Igbere pain relieved by increasing secretion of endorphins in the brain and by increasing nerve impulses which overwhelmed the thalamus and blocked the pain pathway. Orthopaedic surgeons have used similar on arthritic knees.
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