If you’re a frequent reader of the blog, you’re probably aware of our work with Dr. Chris Blatchey, a specialist in the United Kingdom who is hoping to help us get a better understanding of the link between headaches and the Daith piercing as a potential treatment option. If you haven’t read his report on the subject, or if you’ve undergone the Daith piercing procedure and haven’t yet taken his survey, please consider taking a few minutes to help advance our understanding of the subject.

Fibromyalgia and Piercing Treatment

We’ve been communicating back and forth throughout this process, and recently we ended up on the subject of using the Daith piercing to treat fibromyalgia. Dr. Blatchley said he’s been in contact with some professional piercers who perform the Daith piercing, and they mentioned that they have seen a rise in the number of patients who are seeking out the Daith to see if it can provide some symptom relief from their fibromyalgia.

According to these conversations, Dr. Blatchley said that it seems that the Daith piercing is less effective for treating some fibromyalgia symptoms than it is for treating migraines. He suggests patients with fibromyalgia see improvement in about 50 percent of cases, but he also notes that the relief could be because their fibromylagia pain was actually misdiagnosed. Fibromyalgia is difficult to diagnose and even harder to treat, but if we can find commonalities between individuals diagnosed with fibromyalgia and successfully treated with options like the Daith piercing, we may be able to grow as a medical community and better serve our patients.

At this point, we’re not saying that you should go out and get your ear pierced if you are dealing with fibromyalgia, but it’s an avenue worth exploring if multiple other options have failed. We are just scratching the surface of understanding the true link between the two, but others have had success with the treatment. I just received this message from Angela over the weekend, who just want to reach out and say thanks for continuing to help look for solutions to headaches, fibromyalgia and chronic pain.

“I have fibromyalgia, TMJ (temporomandibular joint dysfunction) and chronic headaches. I got both sides pierced for a total of 20 dollars and haven’t had a headache since. My pain has decreased significantly.”

If you know anybody who has had the Daith piercing, please consider sending them to Dr. Blatchley’s site to help further our understanding of pain pathologies. And if you want to learn more about the Daith piercing, we’ve included some of the blogs we’ve penned on the subject below. The first blog listed has more than 200 comments from readers, and many of them share their experiences with the piercing in the comment section. Feel free to check it out to learn more.

Migraines and Daith Piercings
Early Findings From the Daith Piercing Study
An Update on Daith Piercings

Thanks for reading,
Dr. Cohn