It’s currently a very popular ‘myth’ that daith piercings cure migraines. The theory of daith piercings helping to alleviate migraines is based on the idea of targeting a specific pressure point and replicating the principle of acupuncture.
The reason I made this video and post is to give you the fact on the situation and share my opinion on the daith-migraine situation. The facts are quite simple: there is no scientific proof that getting a daith piercing cures migraines. I’m sure some of you are thinking “Well my migraines stopped when I got my daith piercing” and that may very will be the case. I’m not trying to say that there’s no correlation, I am simply saying that there is no proven causation. There’s no solid scientific proof that daith piercings cure migraines. That is the fact of the matter.
I’m not saying there couldn’t one day be proof, but right now there is no proof to suggest that.
I have a few thoughts on this matter in general and also about why people genuinely feel their migraines have been cured by getting a daith piercing.
First of all, this all seems to be based on a pressure point, but who is to say that your daith piercing will go through that exact point? Your piercer will place your piercing in the best place for it to heal with your anatomy. Your daith is quite small, so there aren’t many places it can really go. However, there’s still no guarantee that it’ll be through the pressure point. I have heard of people going into piercing studios with an acupuncture needle in the spot they’d like to be pierced, but this is unhygienic and not something I’d be comfortable doing.
Saying this, I have had customers of my own come to me to get daith piercing specifically for migraines and have returned when healed claiming the piercing helped. Personally, I think the reasoning behind this ‘cure’ is the placebo effect.
Placebo effect: Also called the placebo response. A remarkable phenomenon in which a placebo – a fake treatment, an inactive substance like sugar, distilled water or saline solution – can sometimes improve a patient’s condition simple because the person has the expectation that it will be helpful.
This is what I believe is happening with daith piercings. I think that because people have read all these articles and all these claims saying daith piercings will cure your migraines and they’ve heard other people say a daith piercing cured their migraines they go and get a daith piercing believing it will cure their migraines, so it does. Just like the placebo effect.
I have spoken to a lot of other piercers on this matter and most tend to sit on the same side of the fence as me, meaning they don’t think it actually works and the success stories are likely just the result of the placebo effect. These piercers are usually very good at letting their clients know the facts – that it’s not proven and may not work – if they come to them hoping for a daith piercing migraine cure.
On the other hand their are piercers who will try and sell you a daith piercing on the grounds that it will cure your migraines. I’d run a mile from these guys as they’re probably just after your money. Also remember that piercers aren’t medical professionals, we’re hear to create a hole in your body, put jewellery in it and deal with things surrounding that. We’re not there to advise you medically. That’s why when we think you have an infection, we send you to the doctor. We can’t give you anything ourselves as we’re not licensed to. That’s not our job.
The huge majority of piercers trying to sell you a daith piercing on the grounds that it will cure your migraines are probably just after your money and the rest probably just haven’t researched enough to know that it’s not fact. And if they haven’t done that research, do you really want them sticking a needle in you? Probably not.