You may have heard of it: some people get a piercing in a specific place in their ear, because it is said to help against migraines. But what is actually true here? Can a piercing actually reduce or even remedy migraine symptoms?
This is what you want to know about the so-called daithpiercing in traguspiercing against migraines.
Daithpiercing en traguspiercing
There is a lot of talk on the internet about the effect of piercings on migraine complaints. So they would vagus nerve stimulate the longest nerve of the autonomic nervous system. This nerve has a branch in the ear where the piercing would stimulate it. But according to Ritu Saxena, neurologist at the headache center of Maasstad Hospital, this is not a nerve that is stimulated or addressed in migraine. “If such a piercing stimulates the nerve at all,” she explains at Radar.
Acupuncture
Another story about the effect of piercings against migraines is that it is compared to acupuncture. The piercings would then stimulate a specific pressure point. But Saxena can’t say anything about that. “In conventional medicine, we don’t use pressure points. That is a parallel world that I actually know nothing about.”
Read also: Why you should never get a helix piercing shot
Placebo-effect
So what is the reason why some people seem to benefit from it? According to Gisela Terwindt, professor of Neurology and head of the Leiden Headache Center, this has to do with the placebo effect. At LINDA. she explains: “If I, as a doctor, give you a pill and say: ‘this is great, really a miracle pill’, then the chance that the medicine will work is greater. This has to do with the neurotransmitters in your brain. As a doctor, if I say with great conviction that it will help you, and if you also strongly believe in it yourself, then these substances will work. If you believe that piercing the cartilage in your ear would work great, it may work for you too. The placebo effect.”
More or less migraine headaches
According to Saxena, people can also spontaneously have periods in which they suffer more or less from migraines. “If you just had a piercing done in a period when you would already be less bothered by migraines, then it seems to work.”
Conclusion
Fact or fable? We can therefore conclude that there is no medical evidence that a piercing helps against migraines.
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Bron: Radar, LINDA.
Foto: Getty Images
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2023-07-06 14:12:15
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