SPRINGFIELD,MO–Hundreds of people are getting daith piercings, that’s the inner cartilage of your ear. It’s not cosmetic, it’s a treatment for migraine pain.
But some experts say it’s a risky thing and there’s not much medical evidence to back it up.
A nurse practitioner at Mercy says more than 30 million Americans suffer from chronic or repeat headaches. Some people are turning to their local tattoo shop to find relief.
“It’s spreading like wild fire just word of mouth,” explains Ben Creehan, a professional body piercer for Kaleidoscope.
He says daith piercing has grown in popularity ever since articles started spreading online claiming it helps relieve migraines.
“It was a piercing we did occasionally,but it was nothing that had a pull that it has today.”
But professionals say that’s as far as it goes.
“We’re always careful to make them aware that isn’t something that has been medically proven.”
Laura Hediger is a family nurse practitioner at Mercy. She doesn’t prescribe the piercing, But she says,”I tell them go for it if that’s what they want to try.”
She says if a person suffers from frequent headaches, they get desperate.
“When you have a headache, you get to where you want to try almost anything.”
For people like Liz Huff who received the daith piercing, just a little pain is worth it for potential headache relief.
“Started getting them on a regular basis. Had them at least several a month. It was a lot to deal with,” explains Huff.
Relief finally came for Huff after years of suffering.
” I didn’t think that just a simple piercing would actually fix all of my problems.”
After getting the daith piercing, she has not had one migraine. But what works for some, may not work for others.
“Ben told me it’s not a guarantee. It is a constant acupuncture pressure point, but it’s not a guarantee that you can put a stamp on it carve it in stone and say yes this is going to work for you. Everybody’s different, it did help me.
But for those who are willing to give it a try, Creehan will guarantee one thing.
“All we’re trying to do is give someone a safe, clean, properly placed piercing with the correct jewelry that’s going to heal and feel great,” explains Creehan.
Hediger says a lot of factors can contribute to migraines and there isn’t one guaranteed treatment plan.
