Baunscheidt method – acupuncture of the west

In summer 1848, Carl Baunscheidt (1809 – 1872), suffering from gout, was bitten by a mosquito in his garden in Bonn-Endenich. Firstly, he became annoyed at the increasingly reddening insect bite area. He was surprised however when his gout pain started to slowly fade away and a couple of days after the notable insect bite, the pain had disappeared completely. This gave the scientist and master mechanic the idea of manufacturing a needle instrument which he later named ''Lebenswecker (life awakener)''. When Baunscheidt died on 1st October 1872 in Endenich, many known personalities lost a dedicated doctor. In his honour, a street in Bonn was named after him.

The Baunscheidt scarificator consists of a disc with two centimetre diameter loaded with 33 steel needles which only penetrate one to two centimetres deep into the skin. With the aid of a spiral spring, time can be saved while using the scarificator and the skin can be treated in a target manner. Apart from the scarificator, Baunscheidt also invented the needle roller, which can easily be rolled over the skin. As a matter of course both instruments need to be sterilised before use. Many people trusted the instruments of Baunscheidt: They were purchased by millions of people together with the indispensable Baunscheidt oil. A big secret surrounded the Baunscheidt oil at the beginning. There was a lot of speculation about its ingredients until his great-granddaughter handed over its recipe to a pharmaceutical firm. After some trials, Baunscheidt made up his oil using croton oil, mustard oil, pepper oil, tansy, black pepper and olives thus, Oleum Baunscheidtii was invented and incidentally is only available on prescription .