Relieve migraine, headaches, stress & anxiety from daith, shen men, & tragus ear piercings!

Body pain sucks! But what if  I told you there was a way to get relief from that pain? Have you heard the buzz about how getting ear piercings may help with pain relief?

The way it's supposed to work is that your ear has pressure points that acupuncturists poke with a needle to alleviate pain. These pressure points target certain nerves which trigger the rest of your body. So in theory getting a certain ear piercing will place constant pressure on that nerve which in turn will relieve the pain.

We searched the inter-web for real anecdotal data from actual pierced individuals, who claim pain relief, claim lessened amount of pains occurring, and others say it does not work. But I will leave you with this information and let you make a decision. There haven't been any clinical research or studies we can report from so we are using  the information from actual people who have reported on the theory.

If a piercing has the potential to relieve pain, why not at least give it a try? Read more into this “piercing for pain relief” article to learn about the different piercings that may help relieve some pain.

We will go over

• Daith Piercing and its alleged relief from migraine pain
• Shen Men Piercing and its alleged relief from anxiety relief
• Tragus Piercing linked to headache/migraine relief

Daith piercing for migraine relief: Daith Piercing Location: innermost cartilage fold, the crus of the helix. It's kind of an awkward curvy fold.

See photo for placement.

There has been lots of speculation as to whether or not the daith piercing (located on the ears inner most cartilage fold) has the ability to actually relieve a migraine. The relief actually points to acupuncture for the answer. This is due to a daith piercing running through a pressure point that is linked to alleviate migraine pain.

• Acupuncture is a form of treatment that involves inserting very thin needles through a person's skin at specific points on the body, to various depths. Research suggests that it can help relieve pain, and it is used for a wide range of other complaints. Source

We found a Facebook community group “Migraine Again” whose members give us real world experience about whether or not the daith piercing helped relieve their migraines. Lets see what they say...

John M: “I been suffering from migraines for a long time now (over 20 years). taken pain killers, preventative medicines and now take triptans. Then I read an article about an ear piercing that people had that helped reduced and in some cases stopped migraines altogether. A couple of weeks ago I took the plunge I had the Daith piercing done on my right ear and since then my migraines have almost stopped but not completely, Doesn't work for everyone. Worked for me. so I thought i'd share my news with you all.”

Grace R: “After 35 years of getting migraine i got this done i haven't had one for over a month”

Nicola B: “Wanted to share this. Had a piercing in my ear on a pressure point. So far had the onset of 3 migraines since having it in. Twiddled the stud and voila its worked. I was about to take meds and thought i would twist it to see if it helped and it did. Best $18 i've spent. So happy. I have 170 botox injections a year, endless meds and rescue injections and facet joint injections...so glad i had this done!”

097Survivor113 (Reddit Response): “The daith helped me for about a year then the migraines came back stronger. I think it was more or less a placebo for me.”

Oddlythesame (Reddit response): “So I got mine done back in December. I didn't get it with the intention of helping the migraines. I don't suffer from migraines but I do experience headaches daily. Some worse than others. Since December, I have not suffered from headaches every day. I have had around 6 headaches total since the 3rd week in December. I can't say it will help your migraines but it did wonders for my headaches.”

Bshawed (Reddit response): “It can help- but it really depends on what type of migraines you are having. I got both of mine done (3 weeks apart) in May of 2016. Before that I was taking triptan drugs at least twice a week and was consistent getting migraines that were 8-9 on the pain scale. Since I had the 2nd piercing done I’ve had maybe 5 migraines and the worst was maybe a 4 or 5. It’s not eliminated them entirely, but it’s certainly allowed me to live life again!! The way I look at it is this: it looks cute, isn’t too “out there” and it’s relatively inexpensive when you compare it to the cost of medication and simply the pain. A couple seconds of pain is nothing to a migraine sufferer so it’s really worth a try. If it doesn’t work, take it out. My migraines were so bad I’d be willing to try a lot to get any relief at all.”

Neurogirl0 (Reddit Response): “I got my daith pierced in December. Honestly, it didn't help me. I get 2-3 migraines a week with preventatives. I liked the look and would have kept it but it never quite healed so I took it out in April.”

Pennspaper (Instagram Response): I got both of my daiths done in the spring and have noticed a major decrease of migraines. It could just be a coincidence, but I'm very happy with the results.

Jwylie26 (Instagram Response): I got my daith done almost 6 weeks ago and haven’t gotten a migraine like I normally do each month. Still too early to tell if it’s just coincidence or if it is working. But hey, in the end I have a nice pretty new piercing :)

Shen Men Piercing linked with anxiety relief: Shen Men Piercing Location: the upper mid center of the ear, just above the opening canal. 

See photo for placement.

We also took to Facebook about the Shen Men Piercing and have some real world responses for you. The Shen Men Piercing is also over an acupuncture pressure point known to relieve anxiety.

Crystal M: “After years of anxiety. Probably about 15 I can say I am anxiety free thanks to the Shenmen piercing. Don't get me wrong I do get a little anxious but not where I used to be. I used to take anxiety pills multiple of times a day and now I've taken 2 in the past two weeks. Going into stores was so high anxiety for me and now I can go into the store and not even have to take an anxiety pill. Thank you Karen for introducing this to me. I am so excited to be anxiety free. I love you Karen!!! This was life changing!!!”

Jonelle E: “My daughter and I got this piercing and it is amazing no more anxiousness or worrying about everything were both off our meds now.”

Kari T: “I’ve had it a week. I’m not a good example of how bad it hurt, I have a high tolerance... it wasn’t bad at all. And yes it works, I’m no longer medicating to go to class and I participate. Before I was taking a Xanax before going to class and I sat in the back away from everybody and didn’t participant.”

Kelly W: “Mine has been a godsend!! I no longer imagine myself throat punching people at the grocery store!!! Or annoyed that their breathing..lol”

Jennifer M: “Well it's only been 2 days and today I took my 2 boys along with my sister, karissa, and granny to the zoo, battled Knoxville traffic, and not one panick attack. I usually have them every time I drive thru Knoxville! I'd day its helping already”

Tori H: “I got the Shen men (anxiety) piercing in my ear last week and honestly couldn’t recommend these people more! So far so good! I have been a lot more relaxed since and have found myself more relaxed in situations that would have made me extremely nervous! Would definitely recommend it!”

Tragus piercing for linked with headache and migraine relief: Tragus Piercing Location: the cartilage that partially covers your ear canal. It's also located below the daith piercing. 

See photo for placement.

Rebecca J: “ I have the tragus and it didn’t help me. Honestly it was just a temporary relief.”

Haley D: “When I asked about it, I was told the daith is a 50/50 shot. In order for it to even work, they need to hit that pressure point just right I guess? I'm not totally for sure.

But I've had my daith for over a year now. I got it on the side I felt the migraines started on the most often. I don't seem to have as many daily headaches and I do have less migraines but I still get them, just not as often.”

Emily G: “Yup! I don't know how to explain it - it was a weird feeling. As soon as she'd pierced me, it was almost like my headache melted away. I guess it depends on the person - I know some people don't get affected by getting their daith pierced, but for me, it definitely worked! I normally wake up with a slight headache, too. None this morning xx”

Dark_Ascension (Reddit Response): “If there is anything linked to piercings I definitely can say anecdotally I've no experience with it helping or it making it work. I have both a tragus and a daith by the way. As well as several other piercings. I've had my tragus a year or so before my diagnosis of chronic migraines and chronic silent migraines without Aura, and my daith I got around the time of my diagnosis of silent migraines and shortly after started experiencing the headaches as well. All the actual evidence for daith piercings is anecdotal, you will not find any legitimate research on it... just like you won't find any legitimate scientific research on acupuncture or herbal remedies. It's all a placebo effect sorry to break it to you. If it works for you great! Likely a placebo, there is zero scientific evidence to back it up.”

That concludes our article. If you have any anecdotes to share, please leave us a comment! We will add it to this post.

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