Daith Piercing?

Hello all,

Has anyone heard of a daith piercing improving migraines? I have literally never heard of this piercing at all and then in the past 7 days two people independently told me that the piercing reduced their migraine frequency and/or severity.

For those who don't know like I didn't, a daith piercing is in your ears in the inner cartilage area.

Does anyone here have this piercing? I looked it up but of course there aren't studies on it. I plan on getting the piercing because it's worth a shot!

Here is some anecdotal info but it seems like many other things, that it might help some and not at all for others.

http://www.thedailymigraine.com/blog/2016/3/1/does-daith-piercing-really-work-first-anecdotal-study-of-its-kind

Thank you, I plan to get it done today. I've only ever had diet changes help my migraines but there's no harm in trying this!

Please let us know how it works for you.

I did both ears, one in April and the other in June. I've since retired both. I thought the first was helping. It was really only that I was off work. One back to work they spiked, do I attempted the other. Gave up when after getting ambulanced for a vertigo variety migraine, I couldn't get one ear back in after they drugged me and took me off for a CT scan. Finally just have up on the other. I hope they help you! I've heard wonder tales from others

I've had the piercings for 11 days now, and to my surprise they are helping. I normally get a migraine every single day unless I eat super low carb. I have been eating regular stuff for the past month, not low carb, so I have been getting my normal daily migraines. Since the piercings, however, I've had FOUR DAYS that I did not take my triptan. That is a reduction in frequency by about 1/3rd. In addition, if I look closely at the number of triptans I took on days that I did use it, and the number of times I took the BC powder, that is less as well. So it seems to have given a reduction in severity of pain and frequency.

To sum it up, the only other things that have reduced my migraines at this amount are beta-blockers which I can't tolerate the side effects of, and eating low carb which works great but is very difficult to do on a daily basis. My elimination of other food triggers has greatly reduced the pain but not the frequency. I consider these piercings to be by far the easiest action that I've ever taken to reduce migraines.

The lady who told me about them said that she went 6 months without a migraine, although she did not get them even close to everyday like we do. More like once a month I believe.

I went to a tattoo and piercing store to get them and I chose the same woman who had been recommended to me. She apparently has a lot of experience with daith piercings and if you get one maybe you could call and ask around about who in your area has done a lot of them. I did not mention a single word about migraines to her but she assumed I got them and just started talking about how it's helped her other customers with their migraines of her own accord. Apparently the vast majority of people who come to her to get the piercing do it for migraine relief. Crazy! When another staff member walked by and asked what I got, as soon as he saw he asked if I get migraines. It cost $60 to get both ears done.

I was nervous about how much it would hurt. The left ear was totally painless. She asked me if I was ready and I said yes, then I waited and waited until I realized she was actually in the middle of doing it. The right ear did hurt, but it didn't take long before it was over. Afterwards, the pain was less than when I got my earlobes pierced. I have been able to sleep on either side, while I can feel it if I put too much pressure it really doesn't hurt and I just readjust the pillow. The same ear that hurt also bled profusely 8 hours later, and then again a few days later. I'm not sure why but again, it was totally painless and after it stopped bleeding it just took awhile to clean all the blood out of my ear using a mirror.

However, the lady who told me about them said that hers hurt a lot and in fact it hurt her face when she smiled for a month. I can't imagine that because I totally forget that I even have mine. Here's a picture from the day of:



Anyways, I suggest everyone to give this a try because if it doesn't work, you're out less than $100 which is far less than all our other migraine treatments!

Awesome! Thanks for sharing. I wonder if this might be helpful for a non-migraine constant headache...

tortoisegirl wrote:Awesome!  Thanks for sharing.  I wonder if this might be helpful for a non-migraine constant headache...

Maybe? The only way I can imagine it works is that it disrupts or reduces some sort of nerve signalling. So that means it might work for whatever pain results from overactive nerves?

Fabulous! Thanks so much for the update. I may have to look into it. Mine seem to be getting worse.

Just want to post again with another migraine free day today, and after attending an event last night with an open bar and all you can eat from vendors, so who really knows what I ate or drank...

Ok so I've become interested in this and found this website stating which nerves go where in the outer ear:
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/82698-overview

A daith piercing would be in zone 3 AND zone 4, or the auricular branch of the vagus nerve AND the trigeminal nerve. You may have heard connections between the trigeminal nerve and migraine pain.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auricular_branch_of_vagus_nerve - Note that apparently stimulation of this nerve has been a treatment for seizures, which you all know we've been prescribed anti-seizure meds for our migraines and low-carb diet is recommended for seizures. Not that the two conditions are really related, it just seems treatments for one can work for the other.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vagus_nerve - The major nerve. Note that it's for the autonomic system, meaning that it controls functions that are subconcious. This makes sense since migraines are affected by things such as blood vessels dilating - not something we consciously control. The vagus nerve controls blood pressure and heart rate, among other things. This page states that in addition to seizures, stimulation of the nerve has been used to treat depression - another condition whose meds are always prescribed to us!