Lebensweker means literally “Life awakener” and the instrument was invented by Carl Baunscheidt and was widely used in Germany Europe and America in the 19th century.

The skin was prepared with oils or irritants, the head would be placed over an area of skin. Pulling back and releasing the spring loaded mechanism would puncture the skin with a number of  sharp needles. The theory was that this would act as a counter irritant which would distract the body’s focus away from the main site of injury, say for example an adjacent abscess.

• From the Phisick collection