Placebos and placebo effects in medicine: historical overview

some experimental intervention. Although the most frequently used placebo is the 'sugar pill' in drug trials, placebos can be and have been used for all kinds of interventions, ranging from placebo ultrasound in the treatment of pressure ulcers and placebo surgery in the treatment of osteoarthritis to sham traction in the treatment of low back pain and placebo oestrogen implants in the prevention of menopause symptoms.