Can Piercings Be a Answer for Migraine?

Deena E. Kuruvilla, MD, a board-certified neurologist and the director of the Westport Headache Institute, focuses on treating folks with headache issues utilizing a holistic biopsychosocial method to analysis and remedy.

If you happen to’ve ever had a migraine, you know the way debilitating its signs might be: intense throbbing, ache, excessive sensitivity to gentle and sound, and nausea—all with out warning. However the usual drugs aren’t at all times efficient (or they trigger unwanted effects), which may lead sufferers to seek for alternative routes to seek out reduction from their continual ache.

One unconventional treatment that has gained reputation over the previous 10 years is daith piercing, which is an ear piercing by way of the cartilage of the inside fold of the ear (above the earhole). The thought comes from the medical apply of treating migraine with acupuncture—the placement of the daith piercing is at a website of a meridian level utilized in an acupuncture protocol to alleviate migraine signs. After seeing efficient outcomes from acupuncture (and in some circumstances acupressure), folks started to ask: Can we completely create migraine reduction by piercing the identical location?

Briefly, the reply might be not. We don’t have the scientific proof to indicate that the piercing is useful. And from my expertise of seeing headache sufferers for a few decade, most individuals who get a daith piercing both don’t profit in any respect or have some non permanent reduction for a few days or even weeks, after which the signs return. The daith piercing method is usually ineffective due to three key issues.

1. It’s not a complete protocol. The placement of the daith piercing represents just one acupuncture website—a single a part of a better acupuncture protocol that educated professionals use for migraine reduction. Activating this one website is not going to have the results of a full acupuncture process.

2. The piercing website will not be exact. Daith piercings are usually not carried out by acupuncturists, which implies it’s unlikely that the placement of the piercing could be on the exact meridian level the place an acupuncture needle is positioned for migraine reduction. (This variability within the piercing website contributes to the irregular outcomes of the piercing.)

3. There’s a excessive danger of an infection and nerve harm. Even if you happen to have been to get non permanent reduction with a daith piercing, the dangers outweigh the advantages. Getting a piercing in that individual location is more likely to result in an an infection, particularly if you happen to’re not in a position to sustain with the each day disinfection course of (cleansing two or 3 times a day). The sort of piercing may result in excruciating nerve ache. This occurred to one among my sufferers final 12 months who bought a daith piercing and, sadly, developed an intractable ear ache—even after eradicating the piercing, she had a capturing ache that lasted for a number of weeks.

Acupuncture, nutritional vitamins and minerals (particularly magnesium and riboflavin), conscious meditation, yoga, and train are all research-backed methods to handle migraine signs. If you happen to’re trying to discover different protected alternate options, the Nationwide Middle for Complementary and Integrative Well being (NCCIH) is a good supply that can assist you determine your finest method.

This text is for informational functions solely, even when and no matter whether or not it options the recommendation of physicians and medical practitioners. This text will not be, neither is it meant to be, an alternative to skilled medical recommendation, analysis, or remedy and may by no means be relied upon for particular medical recommendation. The views expressed on this article are the views of the skilled and don’t essentially signify the views of goop.