I'm sure that many of you have seen the multitude of articles circulating social media sites about this new piercing that can magically relieve headaches and migraines... I saw them too.
The daith piercing is in an awkward spot, the innermost cartilage of the ear. These articles claim that the piercing goes through a pressure point, which is what is supposed to relieve the headaches. The only real evidence for this "treatment" so far is that this location is targeted by acupuncture; there is not yet any studies or solid statistical evidence.
I have had chronic headaches/migraines for the past two years, and have tried just about everything under the sun to try and fix this problem. I went to my doctor, then a neurologist, got an MRI and multiple blood tests which showed nothing abnormal, tried three different prescribed headache medications, tons of different OTC medications, natural vitamin supplements, and physical therapy. Having not found a single treatment that helped, I decided to look into the matter.
First, I contacted my physical therapist, who had never heard of it before at all. She then referred me to an acupuncturist. The acupuncturist had also never heard of it. I made an appointment to try acupuncture anyway (which I hadn't tried in the first place because it scared me), and she said she would do a little research and let me know what she found at the appointment.
It turns out the acupuncture thing is true... That spot is in fact an area that can be targeted for headaches, along with many other places in the ear. A few days after my appointment I decided to go for the piercing anyway.
It has now been almost two months since I got the piercing.
My headaches vary from day to day anyway, sometimes barely noticeable, but sometimes crippling. Since the piercing, my headaches have not completely gone away, but seem to be less frequent and less painful when I do have them.
It's still early, but overall, the piercing does seem to help. Who knows, this could be a placebo type thing - I might just think it's working out of sheer hope, but if you're not convinced, think about it this way: What have you got to lose? Its a $50 one time fee at most tattoo parlors, which in the long run is going to be cheaper than medication, or trying a bunch of random treatments. And if it doesn't help, well now you've got a cool ear piercing. Even though it's not scientifically proven yet, my advice would be to give it a shot.
