Daith Piercings for Migraines

A Daith piercing (pronounced “DAT”) is an ear piercing that goes through the ear’s inner-most fold.

A lot of people believe Daith piercings help with migraines, but as this article states larger studies are still inconclusive.

Can a Daith Piercing Help Relieve Migraine Symptoms? (source: Self magazine, 12/08/2022)

However, here is a possible explanation as to why studies are inconclusive from a trained acupuncturist’s perspective.

It is true that there are many acupuncture points in the ear. In fact, a whole methodology known as auricular acupuncture exists in which the practitioner treats all manner of issues by stimulating points on the ear.

Even in this abbreviated diagram of ear acupuncture points (below), one can see that Chinese medicine has mapped every part of the body to different pathways that run through the structure of the ear.

In Eastern medicine, migraines can be the manifestation of any number of root causes. These root causes have connections to the different acupuncture points in the ear. It is possible, then, that some Daith piercings just happens to go through the right acupuncture points in particular individuals.

Since these types of piercing are undirected by a practitioner trained in auricular acupuncture, this could explain why some people report benefits and others do not.

Who is Dr. Perez?

Dr. Dan Perez is both a Western-trained physician and a graduate of the AOMA Graduate School of Integrative Medicine. Based in Austin, Texas, AOMA is recognized as one of the leading schools in Chinese Medicine. Being both an expert in Western medicine and Chinese medicine, Dr. Perez offers his patients natural, minimally invasive and integrative medical options for treating a variety of chronic medical conditions.