Daith Piercings: Migraine Miracle or Coincidental Cure?

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Victoria Crocker was 13 when she got her first migraine. She says, “I will be fine, talking one minute, and then two minutes later, I’ll be on the floor, crying, or screaming, because my head is hurting to badly.”

One time, she had three straight weeks of migraines. Despite EKGs, CT scans, MRIs, neurologists, and medication. She says, “Over an eight year period, I was on maybe a dozen different medicines.”

Victoria’s school, work and daily life was constantly at the mercy of her migraines. Until one day, she came across ear daith piercings online. Some migraine sufferers, like Victoria, say piercing that cartilage changed their lives. She says, “As the months went by and went by, it was just incredible, honestly!”

Now, more than a year after Victoria got her daith pierced, she says she has been migraine – and medicine – free. WCCB called the piercing professional in east Charlotte who did Victoria’s piercing, but they declined to be interviewed for this report, telling us there’s no science behind daith piercings and migraine control.

Dr. Sara Sacco, a migraine professional in Matthews, agrees. “If you happen to want a piercing there, and you don’t mind the pain, or the cost, or the risk of infection, then go ahead. But that’s the reason to do it. Not because you think it’s gonna be a good cure, because I don’t have any good evidence for that,” says Sacco.

Sacco says several of her patients who’ve gotten their daith pierced have reported that the migraines eventually came back. She recommends proven medical treatment, starting with something as simple as schedule. Sacco says migraine brains like structure. She recommends regular sleeping habits, eating regularly, and getting good, regular exercise.

Sacco says, “It’s not just a headache. People that have migraines, it’s a brain condition.”

At Tattoo Bill’s in southwest Charlotte, migraine sufferers continue to come in for daith piercings. “I would say weekly, we have probably about 20 now,” says body piercer Chris Thigpen, who did not do Victoria’s piercing. He showed us the process, saying, “You can feel the loose cartilage here,” and “We will do a marking, make sure we enter it right at the top here,” and, “And then we will start the process of piercing.”

Thigpen continues, “Gonna be a little more intense versus, like, an earlobe,” and, “The actual piercing, it’s gonna take roughly 3-4 months to heal.”

Victoria swears by her daith piercing. She says the only evidence she needs, is her experience. She says, “I can’t remember the last time I had a migraine, which is a lovely feeling!”

Victoria paid $50 for her daith piercing. She says it was money well spent.