Many medical advances were made by indigenous peoples
The Yauyo people were who “the Inca collaborated to train specialists in the art of cranial trephination or skull surgery (2).” If these advances had not been made at this time, they may never have come about. The reason for this is that in order to figure out how to fix certain things and perfect the techniques used, there would be a lot of people used and a lot of mistakes made. This is a huge advancement in health technology and, while other areas around the world were also perfecting skull surgery, indigenous peoples in Latin America were as well. This shows that the early people of Latin America were just as developed, or even more developed, than people in other places at this time.
Invasive surgeries, such as “gold and other metal-based dental fillings, cranial trephination, post-cranial surgery… intra-medullar nails, bone transplant or replacement surgery, surgical amputation, foot surgery… caesarean sections, sinus surgery (2),” and many more were performed during this time. There was usually pain involved during these tasks. Ways to prevent the patient from feeling pain during operations were tested in early Latin America. “During surgery the patient was drugged, and pain was alleviated by applying direct pressure to nerve endings (2).” Other ways to relieve pain or to treat an ailment included “coca-based and related anesthetics… bulbed enema syringes and straight clyster tubes, plaster (or chicle) casts and splints, fine gauze and cotton bandaging, anesthetic snuffs, surgical sutures and cauterization, hypnosis, caesarean sections… emetics, topical anesthetics, poultices, laxatives, diuretics, and herbal (coca) fumigants… birth control, and abortion (2).” These illnesses and medical issues were treated by indigenous healers and “surgeons, midwives, masseuses, and psychotherapists (2).”