Inside: The daith: The ear piercing for anxiety. How much does it actually work?
If you suffer from anxiety, it can be a burden not just on your mental health, but on your physical health and how well you feel, too. It’s easy to come to the conclusion that you’re just going to have to deal with it, but with so many advances in holistic healthcare and mental healthcare, there are different tips and tricks to managing the different side effects that anxiety can have on your life.
Anxiety has been known to cause headaches and migraines. If you’re someone that experiences anxiety, you probably know this all too well. Funny enough, a particular ear piercing might be the most practical thing you can do for your symptoms.
A daith piercing, while it isn’t a super comfortable one to get at first, because of its location, has been known to help with headaches and migraines, as well as relieving the thoughts that trigger anxiety. Those that suffer from these have invested in a daith piercing and found that it really does work.
Let’s dive into the science behind this and the facts and factors to see if this is the piercing that you need for your anxiety and/or headaches.
How Does It Help?
It’s so interesting to start to look into chiropractic care as well as more holistic fixes that generally come pretty to those that are looking for solutions to their health problems. While I am by no means anti-medicine, if there are things that we can do and actions that we can take that help stop the issue at the source, I am all about it. And maybe getting a piercing that calms your vagus nerve isn’t exactly stopping it at the source, it’s helping your mind be more at ease where it starts. This is a huge win.
So let’s get into it. That’s exactly what this piercing does, it puts pressure on the vagus nerve in your ear that is said to trigger a lot of different nerve and mental conditions in your body. Think about acupuncture and pressure points, and how they can impact your entire body when it’s triggered.
In a good way!
That’s how this piercing works is like constant acupuncture to the vagus nerve and essentially sending a message to the brain to relax a little bit.
It is also said to be a huge help for those that suffer from chronic headaches and migraines, whether from anxiety or not. This nerve that it sits on works for both, so if you’re experiencing anxiety as well as headaches as a side effect of your anxiety, this might be the piercing for you.
Where Is The Daith Piercing?
Wondering exactly where this magical daith piercing for anxiety is? It’s the fold of your inner ear right above your tragus. See the photos for reference.
This not only is a helpful and hopefully healing piercing, but it has become pretty trendy in recent years, and is one of the cooler piercings that you can get. I am personally obsessed with the different kinds of earrings you can put in the space of the daith, like a hoop or a stud with a charm. These are both such fun options that can make your little acupuncture nerve therapy cute and trendy.
How Much Does It Cost?
The cost of the daith piercing is going to vary based on a few factors.
Of course the piercer themselves is going to make a difference in the price of the piercing, as not every piercer prices the same and they all have a bit of a different range for these types of processes based on their experience.
Each shop also generally has their own minimum, so you want to pay attention to these details when you begin your research for your piercer and shop. The shop minimums vary based on how well known they are, how experienced all of their piercers are (if they have a range it might be a lower minimum while each artist has their own prices), and so on.
One of the biggest factors is the geographical location of the shop and salon. If it’s in a major city versus a suburb, you might be looking at more of a pricier shop. Especially if the city that you’re in tends to be known for having great piercers and tattoo artists, the shops are going to charge a bit more than in the neighborhood style of shops.
These piercings range from $30 to $80 generally, again depending on each of these factors.
I don’t normally ever recommend going with the cheapest option, but especially as you’re shopping around for help with some nerve-specific piercings, you may want to find an artist with a pretty good idea of what you’re looking for from this particular piercing. Remember, they’re no doctor, but they may know a thing or two about being asked about the vagus nerve when you’re getting your daith pierced for anxiety.
How Much Does It Hurt?
There’s not one way to say for sure, since everyone’s pain scales are different. We all feel pain on different levels based on your pain tolerance and your previous piercing experiences.
While you may not necessarily have a high pain tolerance, this piercing shouldn’t hurt too bad to have done.
It’s going to hurt more than your general lobe piercing, and probably more than the helix as well, simply because the cartilage in this area is quite a bit thicker. But it’s not at the top of the pain scale as far as ear piercings go.
So give this piercing a try and don’t be too afraid of the pain! Because remember– if this piercing works for you in relieving your anxiety and your anxiety headaches, it will be well worth the few minutes of pain or discomfort when you’re getting the piercing done.
Jewelry Examples
Just because this is a functional piercing doesn’t mean it has to look that way! Like I mentioned earlier, this has become a piercing trend in recent years and the jewelry for it is so cute, you should definitely find some fun pieces you like to make it cute and fun.
1. Studded Horseshoe Hoop
2. Minimalist Hoop
3. Mini Barbell
4. Heart Daith
5. Studded And Stoned
Anxiety can cause a plethora of issues for you and your body but hopefully one of these side effects can be helped with a little piercing in your ear.
Not only is the daith piercing one of my favorites aesthetically speaking, it now can be a really helpful tool to ease these headaches and migraines caused by anxiety and panic. Which is all we can ask sometimes when it really comes down to it. Headaches really are some of the most annoying symptoms of anything that you can face: It really just is a dull and annoying pain that won’t quite go away and really impacts your quality of life. And if you experience them often, then you’re really seeing a pretty low quality sometimes.
Try out this fix and see how it works for you!
If you’re still looking around for the details and the facts, here’s a whole reference sheet here to tell you exactly what you need to know about this and every piercing.