Menu

Resources

Daith Piercing for Migraine: Resources and Updates

, 83

Is daith piercing something that you should try as a migraine treatment? Many people are saying yes.

Back in to 2015, a post I wrote criticized articles that touted the benefits of daith piercing, even though they cited little to no evidence. As a result, a huge discussing has started about the benefits and evidence behind daith piercing.

Daith Piercing for Migraine - Resources
Photo courtesy Mreeow
So we’re going to investigate daith piercing for migraine, on an ongoing basis, with your help.

I’m starting off with some of the information shared in the comments on the original post.

  • Richard pointed us to a YouTube series about daith piercing for migraine from Tanya Welch. See those here: Daith piercing and migraines
  • Danny Buchta, who does piercings, wrote: I have done this piercing for about 50 migraine sufferers in the past two months and all but one have found total relief in the short term and that one still said her migraines have been reduced.
  • Natalie Thompson has a Facebook Group (now a closed group) called The Daith Club – for migraineurs
  • Stephen Stratton has offered to watch the situation closely: Hi guys , I’m from England and came across this thread when searching for related articles, I am a qualified nurse and have a degree in Health Studies, I am also a Body Piercer, over the past few months I have had an increasing amount of migraine sufferer’s contact me for the Daith Piercing as a possibility that it may reduce the frequency or severity of their migraines, as with many comments in this thread, when all else fails … I am now intrigued by the possibility if any casual link, research is virtually non existent and so I have decided to conduct, hopefully, a study – its very early days yet , through social media I have requested that sufferers contact me for the piercing and I will over the next two years monitor any results, if anyone has any information or suggestions that may help me form a sound study, then please get in touch – thank you – steve (migrainestudy@mail.com)
  • This from Amanda: I was a migraine sufferer, constantly having migraines everyday for months at a time. If the weather became cloudy I was hurting. I heard about this piercing and decided a $30 piercing that WAS NOT PERMANENT was well worth the trial after so many meds and hospital visit. It has now been one full month and the only way I can tell when its gonna rain is because of my ankle, not my head any longer. Yes one full month no migraines, it feels amazing to wake up with no pain, I was one willing to try anything…the piercings don’t look too bad and definitely was well worth the $30. If you are suffering and willing to try something that can be undone then by all means try this it helped me
  • Emily wrote: Hi! I wanted to write and tell you my personal experience. I get migraine headaches. I was in the emergency room once a week for headaches so debilitating I could not even speak. I got my daith pierced because $40 is less than my copay. I am about four months post piercing and have not suffered a migraine since. I do get headaches occasionally but pulling on the ring and massaging the area helps to calm it down and gets it to go away within minutes…
  • This from body art tatoos: I have been doing body piercings for over 23 years, I have recently had a increase in the daith piercing ( migraine piercing ). I have been asking customers to keep me informed on there progress, 8 out of 10 customers after one month claim they still are migraine free, several are local nurses that there doctors suggested for the to try it, and so far has worked on most, most have been women and said the pain is very little, and it is a harder piercing to take care of because that part of the ear collects dirt much more than the rest so keep it clean, we have noticed that you must Pierce the side the migraine starts on, but if your migraine starts in the back or front of the head in the center it’s best to Pierce both sides, last week I pierced both sides of one of my tattoo artist daiths for his migraine and to his surprise his migraine went away on the spot, but since then he has only had one small headache that didn’t require him to take medication , so far so good, but like I said in the being it seems to work only for about 80 percent of people who get it done, 10 percent claims of a decrease in pain and other 10 percent claims did not work for them, good luck to those who choose to try it.

This is a representative list – there were a few who said the piercing didn’t help (in one case made things worse), but in most cases the reports were positive.

Your Turn

If you have a story, positive or negative, please share it. If you are aware of any trials, or any doctors who have been reporting on patients who have had daith piercings, please share that as well.

They Hated Swallowing Pills, Until . . .

0

There are a lot of you out there – and it doesn’t matter if it’s a multivitamin or a migraine medication – you dread taking pills. You choke, you gag, and it doesn’t matter what brilliant advice you get, the time comes and you have the same problem.

Or maybe you’re trying to help a child take a pill – something you feel they really need – and it’s a horrible disaster every time.

Believe it or not, wiser minds than mine have come up with some clever solutions to these problems. First, a spray.

The Spray Solution

Pill Glide SprayThe spray comes from a company called FLAVORx, which actually specializes in make flavours for medications for children – and, believe it or not, even pets!

Using their expertise, they created Pill Glide, which not only adds a pleasant taste, it also allows the pill to slide down your throat without making you gag.

It’s sugar-free, and each bottle is good for about 100 uses. Pill Glide is also recommended to care givers, who help patients who for various reasons have extra trouble swallowing important medications.

(By the way, they also have peach, grape, orange and bubble gum) The spray is also available in the UK here.

The Cup Solution

Another clever invention is the pill swallowing cup. Oralflo has a small, portable cup especially designed to make taking pills easier.

Oralflo CupYou simply fill the cup half way with a drink of your choice. Then you snap on the lid, pop the pill or tablet into the top nozzle, and drink.

As one reviewer pointed out, there is a bit of a “technique” to this – not a hard one (it actually makes things a lot easier), but you do need to do it right. Check out the Oralflo Pill Swallowing Cup here.

If you’re looking for something even more portable, you can try the Easy Flow Pill Swallowing Aid.

Chalky pills, big gel caps, split pills – these items can make taking them a whole lot easier.

Discover the Real Truth about Your Migraine Triggers

0

An increasing number of people are discovering new things about their triggers, using a simple but very unique app.

Many of us – maybe even most of us – could give a list of things that trigger our migraine attacks. But sometimes knowing the list makes us forget just how complex migraine triggers can be – and so we miss some of the subtle things that could be saving us a lot of pain.

CurelatorAnd that’s why the Curelator app was developed by Dr. Alec Mian and his team.

How Curelator Works

Curelator is the migraine diary you always wish you had had. It’s simple, but it uses data in a powerful way to give you actually useful information.

First, it asks you some basic questions (this is optional, but obviously the more information you input, the more useful the reports will be at the end). Then, every day you take a few minutes (maybe 2 or 3 minutes once you understand the system) to enter basic information about your day. Were you exposed to any typical triggers? What symptoms did you experience? What treatments did you use?

You need to do this regularly for 2-3 months (whether you experience a migraine attack or not) so that Curelator can get a good overview of your symptoms, medications, possible triggers, and treatments.

Now as it is, this gives you great data on the frequency and duration of your migraine and headache attacks. But you can get a subscription which will give you much more powerful information. (At the end I’ll give you a tip to save some money on the prescription.)

Curelator Trigger Map
Sample Curelator Trigger Map
With the subscription, you’ll be able to see “trigger maps” and “protector maps”. You can see an example of a trigger map to the right.

According to the data this person has entered, bright lights, neck pain and soft drinks are highly associated with their migraine attacks, and so they are likely triggers. Anxiety, on the other hand, just has a vague association. She might want to check again in a couple of months to see if things have changed.

She’ll also see a similar map showing things that are probably not triggers, and also a map of things that seem to be “protectors” – when she’s exposed to these things, she’s actually less likely to have an attack.

Remember that list in your head? There may be one or two things on there you’ve been generally avoiding for years, and it may turn out that you’re avoiding them for no reason.

Interesting Findings

Curelator had a number of testers last year (I was one of them), and some interesting discoveries were made. For example, you know how everyone tells you to avoid caffeine and chocolate? Here’s the raw data. Out of 150 patients, caffeine only seemed to be a trigger for 2%. And chocolate? All right, a little higher – almost 7%. But that’s all! In fact, for over 9%, chocolate actually seemed to fight migraine (bring it on!).

The nice thing about Curelator is that it isn’t biased by past experience, or what a doctor says – it just calculates the cold, hard, numbers. So you just may discover some unexpected facts yourself.

A Few More Things You Need to Know

I know this is a long article, but it’s worth the time to understand this app and what it can do for you.

Curelator is backed by an advisory board with some big names in the world of migraine treatment and research. This is not a fly by night group, but people who have spent a good part of their lives helping real migraine patients. When they see a chance to reduce medications and improve health, that’s what they’re all about.

Now, you also wanted to know how to save some money. As I mentioned, there is a free version of the app which does track your headache and/or migraine attacks (cluster headache too). The app needs 45-90 days to get enough data (by the way, the app is typically for people experiencing 2 or more headache and/or migraine attacks per month). What you do is get the free version and use it for three months, and get a good set of data first. Then subscribe to get your maps. Now you have 6 months to confirm the data or see if it discovers more. That essentially gives you 9 months of information instead of 6.

Once you have the data, stop and think about it, or talk to a friend about it. You’re likely to discover some things you weren’t aware of before. This article from the National Headache Foundation about Curelator provides some fascinating examples of how a “trigger” may turn into a “protector”, for example.

Curelator is hoping to come out with some more useful features in the future, so stay tuned!

Meanwhile, get the app now! (And by the way, if you want an Android app, click the link on this page to let them know you’re interested and to be updated when it’s available)

14 Days cards

Can You Survive 14 Days with Migraine Disease? (It’s just a game…)

1

Don’t worry, it’s not necessarily a constant migraine attack. And you can worry even less – it’s only a game.

No, I don’t mean that migraine is a game – I mean that “14 Days” is literally a board game about migraine. And before you start typing angry emails to the makers of “14 Days”, take a moment to reflect on what may actually be a useful tool for discussing migraine disease with friends and family.

14 Days: A Game about Life with Migraine

The game was created by lead designer Hannah Shaffer, designer and illustrator Evan Rowland, and editor Joshua Yearsley. Hannah actually has dealt with migraine herself for many years, and so the game is a personal one for her especially.

Now we know that migraine really isn’t something that can be simulated successfully, although it’s been tried. How do you really express migraine to those who don’t have it? The “Mind Over Migraine Campaign” actually created a “migraine ride” many years ago. There are excellent books like Migraine Expressions, which show migraine through art and prose, or movies such as Lily’s Mom. And there are simple tools that many people with chronic illness have used, such as the Spoon Theory (now available in posters and necklaces and clothing as well!).

So how is this migraine game different?

The game is “14 Days: A game about life with migraines”. It’s a two player role playing board game.

You pick a character, and head into the game with high hopes of conquering life.

Now you choose how you’ll spend your day, and what you’ll work on. But then – what if you have a migraine attack? Will it be possible to fulfill your plans? How will you prioritize?

The interesting thing about 14 Days is that it’s not all “game” (it encouraged discussion and reflection), it’s not all “positive” (it shows how difficult it is to live with migraine), but it’s not all “negative” either. It is possible to have victories, and even if these victories are small, you’ll see how important they are.

The second “week” (of the 14 days) also includes a special event that you need to try to get to.

Obviously no matter how complex the game is, it’s still very simple compared to actually living with migraine.

However, there are a couple of big benefits to a game like this. First, as a discussion starter. It’s certainly designed that way. It brings up a lot of issues such as use of medication, choices and priorities, dealing with advice from others, and pain itself.

14 Days cards

There may also be another benefit – for a person with migraine, it’s an opportunity to think through some of these issues outside the pressure of real life.

And even if the game misses some things that are important in your life, this is a great chance to express those things: “Actually, drugs don’t work for me at all”. Or “When I have an attack, I especially avoid…”. Or “Actually, in my life it’s not like the game portrays it – here’s how it really is”.

14 Days, originally a successful Kickstarter project, is now for sale as a print & play. You can get an immediate download, print it out, and see how you do! To purchase or just learn more, visit the 14 Days page here.

Nose holes

Perforated Septum Head Pain?

, 0

Is it possible to have perforated septum head pain? Is a perforated septum actually causing your headaches – and should you be looking into surgical solutions?

Nose holes
Photo courtesy Enokson
We’ve talked before about a deviated septum (see Is a Deviated Septum giving you a headache?). But what about a perforation?

Your nasal septum is, of course, that bit of cartilage between the right and left parts of your nose. And it’s not just there to make you look beautiful or hold up your nose. Your nasal septum helps the air flow properly from the tip of your nose to the back, where it gets carried to the lungs. A well functioning septum helps your nose stay clear and keeps air moving where it should.

However, some people do develop holes in the septum. They might not even notice, depending on the size and location of the perforation.

This hole might be caused by complications from surgery, cocaine use, certain diseases, or even excessive nose picking (more common than you think!).

(Yes, there can also be a direct perforation caused by a nasal septum piercing for a nose ring. I’m not getting into that – daith piercings was enough for one month – but do your research about the risks, and proper care after piercing. A small nasal septum piercing may close entirely on its own eventually.)

Again, there may be no symptoms at all, or they may be minor ones. Commonly examples of symptoms – nose bleeds, crusting, and nasal obstruction (including a “stuffy nose”).

You also may experience pain in your nose.

Although it may not be common to get headache directly from a perforated septum, obstruction and pain in your nose would likely trigger a headache attack.

So yes, it’s probably entirely possible to have perforated septum head pain. But that doesn’t mean that the perforated septum is the only trigger – it may be a combination of factors that triggers your headache or migraine attack.

If you are experiencing significant symptoms from a perforated septum, you are entirely justified in connecting that with your head pain. So yes, it is worth talking to your doctor about possible solutions.

Your doctor may recommend you simply try regular rinsing with salt water, and applying lubricating gels. This may be enough to ease the problem.

Surgery is an option, but not an easy one. There is a high rate of failure in this type of surgery, and the larger the perforation the harder it is to close.

You are wise to do your research, and find a doctor who has experience in this type of surgery – and who will be honest with you about the possible outcomes.

For more information:

Load More

Back To Top
The articles on Headache and Migraine News are © 2004-2026 J. Cottrill.
Every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of each article, and to point you to further sources of information. However, this site is for informational purposes only and should never replace a visit to your doctor.