A Doctor’s Perspective On Daith Piercings For Migraines

February 19, 2020 / Thomas Cohn, MD

Nobody wants to have to deal with a headache, or worse, a migraine, but oftentimes patients feel helpless to control and prevent their onset. Some people have found that improvements to daily exercise and dietary habits can help a little, but others can’t seem to find treatment success no matter what route they pursue.

One treatment option that we’ve recommended in the past for patients who have failed to find relief with more standard treatment options is the Daith piercing. It involves piercing part of the cartilage in a person’s ear in order to stimulate that vagus nerve. As we’ve talked about in previous blogs, stimulating the vagus nerve may increase parasympathetic activity and decrease excessive sympathetic activity in the region, which would likely decrease the vascular events that surround migraine headaches.

Now, it’s worth noting that our understanding of the inner workings of vagus nerve stimulation is still in its infancy. In fact, the first handheld non-invasive electrical vagus nerve stimulating device only recently received FDA clearance, but it’s a huge step in the right direction in terms of helping people find the right way to prevent and treat their headaches. In our understanding, there certainly appears to be a correlation between vagus nerve stimulation and certain headache relief, but we need to better understand the science between these connections. Simply put, we’re not saying that this is a perfectly wonderful and clinically-proven treatment option for headaches. What we will say is that we’ve seen it work for a number of patients.

Why Consider Daith

When it comes to considering the Daith piercing to help control your headaches, it really comes down to a value proposition. Many patients have spent thousands of dollars on treatments that haven’t proven successful, so when they hear about the Daith piercing, it’s often viewed as a relatively low-risk option from a cost standpoint. The piercing can run anywhere from $30-$100 and you’ll want to find someone with specific Daith piercing experience to place the piercing in the right spot, but it’s often far cheaper than other headache treatment options, so for many it’s worth consideration.

If you’re battling frequent headaches and you’ve tried other options, consider reaching out to a pain management specialist to learn more about vagus nerve stimulation. Some patients have even found some relief by gently massaging their ear in the location of the vagus nerve (see the center piercing in the photo for the correct location) when they feel a headache coming on. Try massaging one side and then work on the other ear. If massaging one side seems to help, that may be the ear to get the piercing in.

At the end of the day, we can’t reiterate enough that this treatment isn’t fully researched and shouldn’t be your first option. However, our goal as clinicians is to help our patients find pain relief, and if other treatments have failed, maybe vagus nerve stimulation is something to consider. You have a lot to gain and little to lose, and we’d be more than happy to go into more specifics during a pain management appointment. We can’t perform the piercing and we don’t refer you to any piercers in the area, but we can talk about the connection between nerve stimulation and headache relief. We may recommend other options, but we want to do what’s right for you. Whether that’s in the form of hands-on treatment or patient education, we want to help you find a solution to your headaches. Give our office a call today if you’ve been battling chronic headaches or migraines.

Daith Piercings, The Vagus Nerve, and Migraines

September 9, 2019 / Thomas Cohn, MD

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.

Which Ear To Get The Daith Piercing In?

October 15, 2018 / Thomas Cohn, MD

The following is a guest post from Leticia, a reflexologist and state certified piercer. She reached out to us with some more information on the Daith piercing, and we wanted to turn her message into a blog post because we feel that our readers could benefit form the information. Here’s what she mentioned in her original message.

Which Ear to PIerce?

Many of you have asked which ear to pierce. It all depends on the strongest pressure point. When I do these I always check both ears, talk to my clients about the problems they’re having and what bothers them most before proceeding. It not just a stab and go procedure. I love my job and help as many people as I can. I have people drive and fly in to have me do their pressure point piercing due to my accuracy.

I have no problem explaining the full procedure. Pain stops a lot of people from enjoying life so I try my best to make their life great by stopping their pain. Many piercers will say they can do this but unless its done a specific way it will not work. It must be done through the pressure points.

To be done correctly a pressure point locator must be used to find the point; It isn’t just a random area in the daith. Once the pressure point is located, it is then pierced and jewelry is inserted. I am a reflexologist and also a state certified piercer that works in pressure point piercing everyday. I have had 100% success rate with these piercings. It can cure many different migraines such as fibromyalgia headaches/migraines, occipital neuralgia headaches/migraines and more in the right situation.

Just because one person does it one way and another does it different doesn’t mean it doesn’t work, because I have different techniques work for different clients. It can change a person’s life and the positive testimonials I have received has been amazing. Men, women and children have came to see me for their chronic migraines.
Thank you Dr. Cohn for your website. And allowing me to post here.

New Results From The Daith Piercing Survey in London

September 20, 2018February 7, 2023 / Thomas Cohn, MD

Recently, our friend and colleague Chris Blatchley from across the pond reached out to share some more information about the study he is working on regarding the Daith piercing and its ability to help treat certain types of headaches. Dr. Blatchley recently attended that Migraine Trust International Symposium, at which he presented some findings on vagus nerve stimulation.

One of his most helpful visual aids during his presentation was a two-part poster titled “Daith piercing – Vagus nerve stimulation and migraine prophylaxis.” The poster shows the trial and results of a study that analyzed nerve stimulation for the potential treatment of migraines for individuals who frequently battle headaches. The results are fascinating, and we’re continuing to find more evidence that there is a physical connection between the piercing and a reduction in symptoms, and that patients aren’t just experiencing a placebo effect.

Check out the poster below, and be sure to check out some of the other posts we’ve done on the Daith piercing as well as previous updates we’ve provided on Dr. Blatchley’s work. As always, we look forward to more updates from Dr. Blatchely, and we want to continue to progress towards a deeper understanding of the role the vagus nerve can play in migraine prevention and treatment.

More Findings On The Daith Piercing

October 24, 2017 / Thomas Cohn, MD

As you’re probably aware if you read this blog, we’ve been helping push patients who have undergone the Daith Piercing for headaches to Dr. Chris Blatchley’s website. Dr. Blatchley has been attempting to conduct one of the foremost studies on the Daith Piercing, and he recently completed his findings. You can see the full results from Version 1 of the study by clicking here. If that link is no longer working, head to his website and look for a link to the survey results.

Before we get into some of the findings in Version 1, Dr. Blatchley reached out to us to see if we could help direct people to take a second version of the Daith Piercing survey. This will again help us learn more about pain pathways and how the piercing may help some individuals with certain types of headaches and migraines. So if you haven’t yet taken the second version of the Daith Piecing Survey, please click here and consider taking a couple minutes to help advance our medical knowledge.

Daith Piercing Survey Results

As we mentioned above, you can take a closer look at the full report by clicking the above link, but here are some of the takeaways in bullet point form:

More than 1,250 individuals completed the survey.

98.5 percent of survey respondents were women.

90% had seen a family doctor and 40% a medical specialist. 44% had underwent a brain/MRI scan.

Roughly 80 percent of patients said they were either “Delighted” or “Very Happy” with the results from the Daith Piercing in terms of headache relief at measured intervals after receiving the piercing (first 30 days, 1-3 months, 4-6 months, etc.).

Only 2.6% of respondents said they were “Very Unhappy” with the piercing, with the most common reason why being that it did not provide them with headache relief.

Interestingly, the side the piercing was on was split almost right down the middle. 51 percent got the piercing in their right ear, while 49 percent got it in their left ear.

About 20 percent of respondents had both ears pierced with the Daith technique.

The majority of respondents reported a decrease in symptoms of headache frequency after undergoing the piercing, and many of these decreases occurred quickly after the piercing was administered.

For more information about the study, or to check out the results, I urge you to head over to Dr. Blatchley’s site. Hopefully Version 2 of the study will be as enlightening as the first version.