One time in high school, I asked a friend who had just gotten a daith piercing if it hurt to get it. I thought it looked cool, but I imagined it to be very painful. She responded by telling me that yes, it hurt, but it was worth it. Why? Because not only was it fashionable, but she said she was prone to migraines and this was supposed to help. That wasn’t the last time I’ve heard this idea, and it certainly made me curious as to the science behind it.
What is a daith piercing?
If you ask someone what a daith piercing is, they may not know what you mean. All you need to do is point to the curvy piece of cartilage that connects your outer ear toward the inside – just above the ear canal – and they understand instantly. A daith piercing goes through the point where the cartilage ridge ends, above the opening into your ear canal.
Do daith piercings actually help with migraines?
This is a difficult question to answer with a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no,’ because while there remains no scientific proof that daith piercings help with migraines, there is a science behind why people believe it to. Ear acupuncture is known to work as a way of controlling pain induced by migraines. Because of this, people believe that the daith piercing – which is located in the place where successful ear acupuncture works – can fulfill the same role and work as a preventative measure. There is no proof that this is the case.
Placebo effect
In Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, Ron sees Harry put a mysterious liquid into his drink. Believing this substance to be a potion nicknamed “liquid luck,” Ron drinks it. Throughout his Quidditch match, Ron plays better than he ever has. Harry later reveals to Hermione that he only added water to Ron’s drink, but because Ron believed luck was on his side, he had a boost of confidence that led him to victory.
This is a long-winded way of saying that sometimes believing something is true is enough to make it come true. It’s the mind over matter concept, the idea of willing something into existence. This idea is called the placebo effect. Scientists studying the benefits of daith piercings have found that while there isn’t scientific proof that the piercing prevents migraines, people believe that it does so strongly that it has an actual effect on their perception of the quantity and severity of their migraines.
Evidence that the daith piercing actually helps prevent migraines has currently only been gathered on an anecdotal level. Individuals with the piercing may self-report having better results. So while scientifically, nothing proves daith piercings to directly help with migraines, that doesn’t mean there isn’t the potential for them to help in the form of the placebo effect. In that sense, it becomes a case-by-case situation. Maybe your daith piercing has helped with your migraines, or maybe you simply believe that to be true. Without scientific proof, there is currently no evidence that definitively proves this method right or wrong.