The absolute frustration of another migraine hitting and ruining another day, week, month is unbearable.

We need every tool we can find to give us the clarity that we need to able to work on the deeper parts of healing a chronic disease like fixing our hormones, correcting neurotransmitters, healing our mitochondria and restoring our gut function.

And for some people, it’s a piercing that does it. At least while it heals.

In this article, I’m going to be discussing the complete guide to tragus piercings and how migraine and headache sufferers are using it for relief with little side effects.

Why does getting your tragus pierced work?

There are two main piercings that are being used in the migraine and headache communities. The daith and the tragus.

Daith is by far the more popular one and it seems to be the more effective one as well. You can see our article on daith and tragus piercings for migraines with reviews here.

But for some people getting their tragus pierced is what helps.

The picture below shows you where the tragus and daith are:

Some say that these piercings work only because of placebo but there are reports of migraineurs receiving relief after piercing for cosmetic reasons and not anything health related at all.

But there are two more likely explanations.

#1 These piercings go through Arnolds nerve which is connected to the vagus nerve. Vagus nerve stimulation devices are actually used for the treatment of epilepsy, depression and migraines.

There is even an FDA approved vagal nerve stimulation device called the Gammacore which we wrote about here.

So if you have poor vagal tone, this may be why it helps so much but there are also more effective exercises you can use that have far less safety concerns which I outline in the article here.

#2 These piercings may be working on acupuncture and acupressure points and as we know acupuncture can be just as effective as some medications.

But this is an entire system of medicine and to reduce it down to one or two points really does not do it justice and it is always better to get the real thing done.

I discuss both of these in the video on tragus and daith piercing reports below.

How to get your tragus pierced properly + Big concerns

Because the tragus piercing goes through a thick piece of cartilage it can take a long and annoying time to heal.

But, even more fun is that it is reported to be one of the most painful piercings as well.

Generally, far more painful than the daith piercing.

We have to do what we have to do, especially if we want to try something that requires little work on our part.

If we actually want to put in the work to heal our brains and bodies then we have to dive into deeper topics like complex and complicated migraines here and vestibular migraines here.

Piercing Healing Techniques

The biggest concern with these piercings is infection and long healing time.

Make sure to follow these tips during the healing phase as closely as you can:

– Monitor for any reactions to the metal, generally titanium is one of the better and less reactive types

– Keep the area clean and avoid going into public pools or places with excess bacteria

– Use a piercer that is diligent about their sterilization and cleanliness techniques

– Be careful not to get the piercing caught on clothes or to fiddle with it too much

– If needed clean the area twice daily with soap/water or a saline solution instead of alcohol

– Avoid sleeping on the side you pierced

– Plan for the 3 to 10 months it may take to heal a cartilage piercing

One of the catch 22s of the daith and tragus piercings is that for some people, when the piercing is fully healed, their migraines come back. It is as if the pressure point is not being sufficiently activated anymore and cannot do its job.

Piercing healing nutrients

Along with avoiding irritating the area or getting it infected we want to give our body extra nutrients to heal.

These include:

• Vitamin A (Liver, peppers, carrots, orange fruit)

• Vitamin C (Citrus and sour fruits)

• Zinc(Shellfish, mollusks, nuts and seeds)

• Enzymes(Citrus, raw foods, pineapple, papaya)

• Other minerals (calcium, magnesium, silica)

Avoid turning your piercing into an antenna

Of course we want to avoid exposing ourselves to EMFs and turning our piercing into an antenna for all of the frequencies floating in our airspace by using natural substances as soon and often as possible.

These include:

• Wood

• Porcelain

• Bone

• Stone

What does the community say?

We asked the Migraine Professional community for their input on both tragus and daith piercings here as well as just tragus piercings here.

At the end of the day we need to find short term relief but we also have to ensure that we are getting to the root of some of these problems and addressing the underlying causes that so commonly keep us stuck and in pain even when we are on the right medications. This is where we shine and do our best detective work, teaching you how to heal your brain.

We focus on fixing the root causes that so commonly create central sensitization, inflammation, stubborn pain and immune dysregulation. When you remember that your brain is 80-90% glial cells which are in fact immune cells, you can understand how to fix this whole mess. Get help figuring out the root cause in our 1 on 1 calls here.

Have you had your tragus pierced? Did it work for you?

Let me know in the comments below.