Daith Piercing: Relief from migraines & more!

​It hasn't even been a week and I'm already having less migraine pain since getting the daith pierced in my left ear. So, was it worth it? Ohhhh yeah!

Migraines and I have been duking it out since I was 12 or 13-years-old. They’ve caused me trouble at work. Trouble at home. Trouble with social events. Trouble with all sorts of stuff and I’ve hated them since the first one caused a pain explosion that nearly put me on my knees and left me sick for days.

Several months ago, my cousin, LaTonna, introduced me to a couple of her colleagues that got daith piercings to get rid of their migraines. I was totally intrigued. The piercings had stopped their migraines completely.

Image via Angelia Phillips

​More recently, a friend of our family also got a daith piercing for migraines. She reported the procedure to be fast and not terribly painful, and that it was working great at decreasing migraine frequency, duration and pain.

My turn...

I scheduled an appointment with an Evansville tattoo salon that had been recommended by a friend who’d gone there for her own daith piercings--more details on the salon, later.

Because I have an allergy to several metals, I was advised to have a titanium hoop to wear in my ear after the piercing. It’s the metal they use that’s least likely to cause a reaction.

A hollow, piercing instrument was used to pierce the daith of my left ear. In my experience, 99% of the migraines I’ve had are centered over my left eyebrow, so the left side was the first to be done, and hopefully the only one I’ll need pierced.

Once the piercing instrument was through, a titanium ring was threaded through the inside of the instrument. Then the piercing instrument was removed and the hoop remains in place. 

Most folks I talked to said it didn’t hurt much at all--or felt more like pressure than pain.

However, everyone is different and I didn’t talk to everybody.

Ouch...

The initial introduction of the piercing instrument wasn’t awful. 

Then, as it went through the cartilage, which took several seconds, the pain escalated. It got acutely intense for several seconds--so much so that I began praying, audibly and loudly!

My sister (a reflexology therapist), stepped up immediately and began scratching my forearm on the opposite side the piercing was happening on. It helped me manage the pain quite a lot.

Once the piercing instrument was removed, the pain turned down several notches. It continued to ache but wasn’t intense and easy to cope with, as long as I didn’t bump my ear.

Aftercare

​After the piercing, I left it alone for the rest of the afternoon and evening. 

Next morning I gently irrigated it with saline and continued the saline washes a few more times during the day. They didn’t hurt at all and I had only a tiny bit of bleeding that stopped almost immediately after the rinsing. I dabbed the blood away with a cotton swab.

The second day after I continued with the saline rinsing, and followed them with a cotton swab moistened with the lavender oil I make. It stops pain on contact, stops bleeding and is a broad-spectrum antimicrobial. Worked great.

The third day after, I reduced the saline irrigation but continued with the lavender swabs.

Today is the fourth day. My ear still feels bruised but is only a tiny bit painful. I’m continuing with the saline rinsing twice a day, followed by the lavender swabbing.

I’ve been careful when bathing to not get any shower-water near the pierced ear. 

Migraines since?

​I’ve had migraine pain since the piercing, but the pain has been manageable without meds, nor have I needed a darkened room, minimal movement, or ice packs for my neck and forehead.

Too...

​A few days before the piercing, I got some news that others who had daith piercings for migraine prevention are reporting other improvements after their procedure, including a decrease in pain due to fibromyalgia and a decrease in anxiety and anxiety-induced illnesses.

Was it worth it? Yes! I recommend it to others, as long as they’re aware that it might not hurt much at all, or it might hurt a lot! Everyone is unique and what might be easy for some, isn’t necessarily so for others.

Hoping you've found this helpful and that you'll please share it with anyone you know that it might benefit I'll post occasional updates as I get further from the piercing date to keep you informed of changes.

"For I will restore health to you, and I will heal you of your wounds,” says the Lord“ Jeremiah 30:17 World Messianic Bible

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Shalom​