Background: Daith piercing is a special ear-piercing method that punctures the crus of the helix. The penetrated site at the ear's innermost point is assumed to stimulate a pressure point associated with the vagus nerve. It has been reported that the pierced spot relieves migraine and tension-type headaches by activating vagal afferents, leading to the inhibition of neurons in the caudal trigeminal nucleus via the nucleus tractus solitarii.
Objective: The objective of this narrative literature review is to summarize the current state of knowledge concerning daith piercing for the treatment of migraine and tension-type headaches from the perspectives of the Chinese and Western auricular systems.
Methods: PubMed and China National Knowledge Infrastructure databases were searched using the keywords "daith piercing," "auricular points," "headache," and "acupuncture" from database inception to September 1, 2023. Only studies on humans were eligible; otherwise, no further restrictions were applied to the study designs, type of headache, or patient population of the identified articles. Bibliographies of all eligible studies were screened for further eligible studies. The main outcome of interest was a quantitative measure of pain relief by daith piercing. Secondary outcomes were relapse time of headache and further outcomes related to daith piercing, if available.
Results: From a total of 186 identified articles, one retrospective study and three case reports fulfilled the inclusion criteria. No clinical trial was identified. The obtained studies describe patients experiencing chronic headaches undergoing daith piercing without changing or reducing their usual medication. In all case studies and the retrospective study, patients reported substantial reductions in pain immediately after daith piercing; however, headache symptoms recurred several weeks to months thereafter. From the perspective of the Chinese and Western auricular systems, no sufficient explanation for the described treatment effect of daith piercing was found.
Conclusion: The available literature, combined with the reported recurrence of pain as well as the associated side effects of daith piercing, indicate that current evidence does not support daith piercing for the treatment of migraine, tension-type headaches, or other headache disorders.
Plain language summary: This paper summarizes what we know about Daith piercing (DP) for chronic migraine and tension-type headache and discusses how DP might work. Current evidence does not support DP as an effective treatment of chronic migraine and tension-type headache. These findings might assist clinicians in discussing this subject with patients as well as guide future research.
Keywords: Chinese medicine; auricular acupuncture; ear piercing; headache disorders; helix; pain.
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