FAQ Episode 32: Can an Ear Piercing help your migraines?

Frequently Asked Questions for Natural Migraine Relief for Women

If you have migraines, I’ll bet dollars to doughnuts you’ve read something about this episode’s concept.  It’s a topic where I’ll tell you in advance, there are no clear answers.  Read on and I’ll review what we do know, including the pros and cons and some considerations if you want to give this a try.

First off, and you’ve probably heard me preach this before, just as there is no ONE cause to your migraines, it is just as unlikely that any ONE remedy will clear them.  Migraines are multi-factorial, and the more you know about your root cause factors, the more likely you are to find the combination of restorative components that cut the frequency and intensity of your headaches.

Traditional Chinese Medicine and Migraines

Using an ear piercing used to limit migraine pain is a concept based on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), where therapy is based on balancing the flow of chi, which is considered to be the body's life force or energy. TCM practitioners believe that qi flows via pathways called meridians throughout the body, and that health issues arise when this flow is disrupted or unbalanced. TCM has identified over 2,000 acupuncture points that are believed to be connected through these meridians, and the practice of TCM involves inserting needles into specific points along the meridians to improve the flow of qi and alleviate health and medical conditions. It is postulated that a piercing at one of these points may give on ongoing benefit of balanced chi at that meridian point.

Interestingly, the acupuncture points that could assist a problem can seem to be far removed from the organ involved.  As an example, the liver meridian, or Foot-Jueyin, starts at the big toe's medial corner and runs up the foot's center, then along the lower leg's medial side and upper thigh. It then curves around the external genitalia and goes up to the lower abdomen.  For headache, a common place to start is the LI-4, or Hegu, which is located at the point where the thumb and index finger join together. LI-4 is frequently recommended for headaches and migraines. 

I reference this in the paid subscriber’s section: Resource 27A  Eleven Natural Rescue Therapies for Acute Migraine (see below,) and I’ll review #11 as follows:

11. Adding acupuncture to triptan therapy. If you use one of the triptan drugs (Imitrex, Mxalt, Zomig et. al.) studies have shown that adding acupuncture can significantly improve the prophylactic result, taking what may be a 40% odds of response to closer to 80%. While seeing a trained acupuncturist would be best, you may not be able to see one on short notice. Instead you could try two acupressure points as adjunctive therapy. This would include 1) putting an ice pack on one of the migraine accupressure locations across the back of the neck for 5-10 minutes, and 2) somewhere during this time place you would also firm pressure on the web of skin between the left thumb and second finger for about a minute.

Try these right after you use the triptan drug therapy, then lay down somewhere quiet and dark to let the treatment do its work.

The full article on Natural Rescue Therapies for Acute Migraine is referenced below and is available for paid subscribers.

The Daith piercing for migraines

An ear meridian site has gained interest for claims that it can assist with migraine headaches. This is the site of the Daith piercing, which is made through the smallest fold of cartilage in your ear, right at the point where the outer ridge that runs along the top of your ear connects to your inner ear and just above the ear canal. This is about 1 cm away from the usual accupuncture migraine meridian in the ear. It may be preferentially placed on the side of the head where migraine pain occurs, although many times both sides are pierced, especially if cosmetic symmetry is desired.

Because it’s a small and curvy piece of cartilage, it can be hard to pierce, and once it’s done, most people don’t change the jewelry often. It can take months to heal and can easily become infected if not pierced or cared for correctly. Also, some people who like to use corded or Bluetooth ear buds with their phone may find that the piercing interferes with the fit. Others tell me its no problem for them.

The idea of this piercing originally came from acupuncture techniques based on the claim that there is a pressure point in this area of the ear that corresponds to the digestive system. The earring provides constant pressure on this meridian point, which is believed to relieve migraine pain. 

Now why would a digestive system meridian point help headache pain? We do know that inflammation from the gut can be a contributing root cause factor in migraines (see paid subscriber’s Lesson 8: Inflammatory Factors as a root cause of Migraines: Part II for details,) It has also been proposed that stimulation of this Daith piercing zone affects the vagus nerve, which serves the GI tract. This process of vagal neuromodulation is thought to provide a feedback loop with a subsequent reduction of inflammation and/or pain.

This may also explain why less than half of those getting this piercing get migraine relief. Studies generally show ~40% inproved, ~40% no improvement and the other 20% somewhere in between. When the Daith piercing helps, it may be that the patient is addressing other root causes at the time the piercing is added, providing enough cumulative benefit to reach a threshhold of migraine relief. It is also possible that if you had this piercing previously, and go on to find additional root cause factors that this combination may add up to provide relief. So if you have this piercing, and are frustrated in not seeing a benefit, don’t give up just yet. Continue to research your other migraine root cause factors to see if a more individualized combination of synergistic therapy can manage your migraines. (I wrote the Natural Migraine Relief course to help you do this. You can sign up for it at the bottom of this page.)

Daith piercing pros and cons

Negatives:

• The potential for benefit appears to be a coin toss (50/50).

• This area can be hard to pierce and can take months to fully heal.

• The area can become infected if not pierced or cared for correctly (true of all piercings).

• Precise placement may be a critical factor. Because of this and the above mentioned factors, consider consulting a certified accupuncturist to pinpoint placement and at times to do the piercing. Your local tattoo artist may not fully appreciate these nuances.

• Some people who like to use corded or Bluetooth ear buds with their phone may find that the piercing could interfere with the fit. Discuss this with the person who does the piercing. Having a smaller earring may help.

Positives:

• When it works, has been reported to have potential for long term benefit. I’ve also heard it’s benefits described as “life-changing.”

• When it provides additional synergy to your current non-drug or pharmaceutical therapy, it may be positively working a niche not covered by other options.

• Some users feel that it is one of their more cosmetically appealing piercings.

As with any natural, nutritional or pharmaceutical intervention, always remember that your best result for reducing migraines lies with finding as many of your migraine root cause factors as possible, and applying the simplist therapy(s) that address each of them.

Natural Migraine Relief for Women Resource 27 A: Eleven Natural Rescue Therapies for Acute Migraine

Although there are many pharmaceutical drugs to treat migraines or the nausea and pain they produce, many of my patients want to consider nondrug therapy as a front line measure to blunt or clear an emerging migraine.

As the root causes for migraines are different for each migraine patient, I find that you may need to sort through the nutritional or herbal therapies I list here to find the one(s) that work for you:

1. Reduce the inflammation that drives some migraines with a tea mixed as follows: -½ tsp fresh powdered ginger or an inch of fresh ginger piece, a teaspoon of dried peppermint and a dash of cayenne pepper. Stir into in two cups of boiling hot water and steep for 10 minutes. Strain the resulting tea and add honey to sweeten to taste.