Not nearly often enough, I get up on a Friday morning, jump into the car, and drive three hours to visit my sister. This past Friday was one of those days.
When I arrived in Springfield we immediately headed to Subway for chopped salads. Then I took a two hour nap! (I had to sleep off a migraine pill.) Next? Hiking on a rocky path and searching for groundhogs followed by a visit to Ruby’s Market for trail mix and gluten-free muffins. At approximately 1900, we met my nephew and his girlfriend for dinner at Great American Taco Company. And that’s where Things Went Down.
My nephew (J) and his girlfriend (L) are delightful—college freshmen, super smart, refreshingly witty, responsible, and kindhearted. We sat at GATC eating our tacos (mine was NAKED) and talking about baby bicycles and skateboarding injuries and why it’s probably wrong to “borrow” a grocery cart. At some point, I glanced at L’s ear and noticed that she is Pierced. (You have to have at least eight earrings to earn that capital P.)
When I asked about the tiny hoop on the inside of her ear, she explained that it’s called a Daith piercing, and that it has totally obliterated her headaches. Because I was still coming down from the migraine pill I had taken six hours earlier, the hair on the back of my neck bristled—not unlike the hair on the neck of a wolf when he/she sees a sleeping rabbit. (I guess. I’m still trying to understand nature.)
Me: It gets rid of headaches AND it’s cute. As soon as a Daith piercing can fit into my budget, I might have to get it done.
L: I have a coupon! You can get the piercing done for $20!
Me: But what if YOU want another piercing? I can’t take your coupon.
J: I have a coupon, too! If she needs another coupon, I can give her mine!
That was when I sent a text to Jeff:
“$20 piercings. Can I get one?”
Not even knowing what the heck I was up to, Jeff came back with a thumbs up (because he is the knees of the bees), and suddenly my nephew was on his way back to the university for fraternity stuff, and my sister, L, and I were on the way to a place called Next Generation.
When we arrived, I signed all of the “I am not drunk and I don’t have HIV” paperwork, I realized that my driver’s license was back in St. Louis, and I did that thing where I started talking really quickly and saying things that have nothing to do with anything because OCEANS OF ADRENALINE!
Let me show you what happened next.
The piercer guy told me that it was going to hurt and he explained how to clean the piercing, but he may as well have been reading passages from Moby Dick because my concentration levels had tanked and I had moved on to the annoyingly giggly stage of nervousness.
Piercing time.
Me: Will you do a countdown?
Piercer: Nope.
And with that, he stuck a rod the size of the General Sherman Sequoia through the cartilage in my ear.
Soon it was time to switch out the rod for the hoop and PAIN! SO MUCH PAIN! Luckily, I had L in the room with me, and she was a great cheerleader. “You’re doing great. This is the hard part. Almost done. Almost done.” There are no photos of the switch, but here I am still wincing at least ten seconds after the hoop was inserted.
Fun Fact: The piercer told me that my cartilage was soft. AND, I was a bleeder. BUT, he assured me that the bleeding would stop before I walked out the door. (And it did.)
After leaving the shop and dropping L off at her car, my sister and I decided to celebrate.
Less than twelve hours later, I filled my car with Half Crocked Honey and drove back to St. Louis—pierced, donutted, and loving the life I live. ‘ ‘ ‘text/javascript’>
Perfection.
A friend got one and it’s worked for her for four months. Or else she’s noticed the times she doesn’t have a migraine more often than the times she does. She said they do get infected easily while healing.
The true test would be if my 63 year old husband would get one. He’d use the scientific method.
Reading this as I battle a headache. Feeling jealous feels.
Do keep us updated on healing and headache status. I’ve been contemplating this for months. Since I’d let a surgeon do whatever it took to rid me of migraines I don’t know why I hesitate to get a hole in my ear. Not that surgeons have any cures at this point.
I’m impressed with your gung ho ness. Please let us know how it goes for you. Not that I think I’d ever get my dearest to pierce his ear ( he gets migraines worse than I do) but I’d consider it for myself. :)
Totally bad***! Here’s to ritual an epic anti inflammatory response!
“…he is the knees of the bees…” I love that!
I seem to have outgrown my migraines. I attributed this to retirement and finally being able to (mostly) dispense with the alarm clock and get enough sleep. However, my doctor son tells me that people/women tend to age out of migraines, it was probably hitting the big 6-4 that did it.
Wow…jumping right into a daith piercing is seriously badass. I have 19 piercings in my left ear, including my tragus and rook. My body piercer in Minneapolis, who was a dear friend, gave me a piece of her gold jewelry when she was leaving the state, and I told her to choose where to put said piece of jewelry, and she did my right daith. Holy shit!!! That was the most painful piercing I have ever had…and I’ve had a ton of piercings done (currently have 34, I at one point had 41). I hope it helps the migraines. I have super mild ones once in awhile these days.
Oh, I hope it works for your migraines! I know a number of people for whom it’s worked. Keeping my fingers crossed for you. (We should talk migraines sometime)
kmkat – I love hearing that you’ve outgrown your migraines — something to look forward to…
I would love to know if this piercing helps!!! My migraines are the worst on top of having MS! I happened upon your blog and think you are just the greatest! I love how you tell stories! I would love to read anything written by you. Good luck with the daith piercing!!!
Also, I loved your story about the concert and am thourly impressed! ??
Tara /Tarat580 on Instagram
I hope this gives you some relief from migraines. I don’t have headaches, but my daughter and husband both have migraines, so I am aware of the misery associated with them.
I do want to know how you have such beautiful skin. Really. I don’t expect you to look like a weathered old crone like me, but you are my daughter’s age and I know what she and all her friends look like, and you look half their age. Thank your lucky stars, Dear, for whatever gives you that enviable complexion!
A GIFT : )
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgYLsEb4Nq8