In 1884, Viennese ophthalmologist Karl Koller discovered that a mild solution of cocaine applied to the eye would deaden the nerves' sensitivity to pain.
Sources
- Cocaine, the Victorian wonder drug | Wellcome Collection (wellcomecollection.org)
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3140169/ (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
- https://www.aao.org/history-of-ophthalmology/karl-koller (aao.org)
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