Daith piercings have been showing success in helping to control migraine headaches. Now there is new research that seems to shine more light on what has been thought to be the mechanism that contributes to the success of this treatment. Research into dementia has recently been done with stimulating the ear with a slight bit of external and intermittent vibration. The research suggests that this may help prevent dementia. The mechanism of action is thought to be by stimulating the ear, a branch of the vagus nerve is also being affected and this is what is producing the results. Similar to what we assumed was happening with the daith piercing, vagus nerve stimulation is the key factor at play.
The latest information on stimulating the ear and the vagus nerve comes from a study out of England and the University of Leeds (Bretherton et al, 2019, in Aging). Stimulating the outer ear for 15 minutes a day for two weeks with gentle electrical vibratory signals improved the relaxation signals and parasympathetic activity. The researchers determined that they were electrically stimulating a branch of the vagus nerve that is in the region of the tragus. In older people (55 years and older) they may have a high sympathetic outflow and this leads to stress, tension, depression and low energy. The transcutaneous electrical stimulation of the ear rebalanced the system and seemed to slow the effects of aging. The major caution was this was a small study so one does not know if these findings would be present in a large controlled study.
The initial research at the University of Leeds in England was done in 2015 and was done in healthy young people. Stimulating the ear with transcutaneous electrical stimulation at the vagus nerve improved autonomic function. Normalizing autonomic function means decreasing sympathetic tone, stress, tension and most likely vascular tone. This would also mean blood vessels would not constrict and could impact the occurrence of migraine headaches.
What It Means For Migraines
Vagus nerve stimulation has a history that is long standing. Vagus nerve stimulation devices were implanted after 2005 for treatment of major depression. They also have been used for gastro-intestinal disorders, epilepsy, and some inflammatory disorders. Now there is an FDA-approved device (GammaCore) to stimulate the vagus nerve through the skin to relieve migraine headaches.
Daith piercings we now know are not placebo treatments for migraine headaches. It is pretty clear they work through stimulating the auricular branch of the vagus nerve in the region of the tragus in the ear. Stimulating the vagus nerve will increase parasympathetic activity and decrease excessive sympathetic tone. This would likely decrease the vascular events that surround migraine headaches. Furthermore it may reduce overall personal stress and anxiety that may be migraine triggers. The piercing would cause physical stimulation of the vagus system and thus rebalance the autonomic nervous system in the body. If piercing is not an option, then using a transcutaneous nerve stimulator (TENs) unit with a very light current to the tragus unit would likely do the same. The good news is that science is validating the practice of this piercing.
As a side note, research is underway specifically on the daith piercing. Studies are being done in England and elsewhere in Europe with regards to the effectiveness of this technique. Whether the daith piercing will work for any one individual is unknown. Since migraines may have a number of triggering causes, the effectiveness of the daith piercing is likely dependent on whether a component of the migraine is related to autonomic balance in the body and if it can be corrected with vagus nerve stimulation. Hopefully we continue to learn more about vagus nerve stimulation and how to best treat these types of migraines in the near future.