- Are you nervous?
(tense music)
- Yes.
(upbeat music)
So I've been getting migraines since I was 15 years old.
I get what's called Aura Migraines.
Which means my vision gets completely distorted,
I'm throwing up, it just completely knocks me out.
It's a very common thing with women my age,
mine are hormonal.
I've tried ibuprofen, acupuncture, Imitrex, Amerge,
diet changes, but thanks to the internet,
I have learned that you can get this part
of your ear pierced called The Daith.
I don't think there's any like scientific proof
about it actually.
Currently, daith piercings can not be recommended
as a treatment for chronic migraine.
So basically we can't definitely say anything
about if you should or should not get a daith piercing
'cause we can't give medical advice,
but the idea of clinical trials has been tossed around.
Of the 380 patients with a daith piercing
completing the survey in 2017,
47.2% experienced a reduction in migraine frequency.
This study states that the therapeutic mechanism
of ear acupuncture is not well-known.
Of course in this study, there is a cautionary remark
that any kind of piercing can you know cause pain
and maybe even give you a headache.
So there's that?
I figured you know what I will try anything.
I found this guy Brian,
he's like the pure sort of all piercers.
I went in the other day asking
about the daith piercing and he did it on my left side.
- [Brian] Oh, yeah
- Wooh, Nelly!
I only did the left side because I was like,
I don't want it to make it worse.
Turns out it really helped.
I texted my friend Ella and I was like,
Ella I know you get chronic migraines.
You have to get this piercing.
- I've heard from friends and family that you know,
there's the type of migraine that light sensitivity,
sound sensitivity.
I've experienced that but not so often,
more so I just get really really bad tension headaches.
Sometimes that really affects my mood.
It affects my ability to work.
- So Ella said heck yes let's do it.
I want to get my right side done.
We both got our COVID tests.
- Let's (beep) do this.
(upbeat music)
- The way I go about everything in my life.
If I'm gonna do something I really wanna try
to be the best at it.
- [Kelsey] You don't have to say you're the best
but everyone else says you're the best.
- If you walk into a room,
and tell the room that you're cool,
that's not very cool.
But if you walk into that same room,
and everyone else tells you you're cool,
then you can kind of properly check that box
that you're cool.
(Kelsey laughs)
I had these two sisters
they were getting migraines every other day.
- [Kelsey] Wow! You know
like bedridden migraines - [Kelsey] Yeah.
and medicine wasn't working,
and they said that it helped.
My migraines come from behind my eyeballs.
- So do mine,
and mine are also at the base of my skull.
- [Kelsey] Some theory suggests that Acupuncture
stimulates sensory nerves of skin,
and body muscles causing significant release of endorphins,
or acting as a non-painful sensory stimulus
that competitively inhibits nociceptive pathways.
So it's basically like we're getting permanent acupuncture
in our ear balls.
- [Kelsey] Are you nervous?
- Yes, but I'm very excited.
- [Kelsey] What are you nervous about?
- You know I think i just get nervous
about anything I do in my life. (laughs)
I've always been kind of afraid
that I have a low pain tolerance.
I don't really get many tattoos.
I've actually only gotten this tiny arrow tattoo.
(upbeat music)
- That is so cool, so cool.
- [Brian] Big deep breath all the way in.
All the way out.
- [Kelsey] Nice.
Easy. - Yeah.
- [Kelsey] How was it?
- Not that bad and I feel like a million bucks.
- Yeah you look a million times cooler.
- I love it.
- [Brian] Are you ready?
- I'm ready!
- My pain tolerance, I would say it's pretty high
when you have chronic pain and migraines
you kind of get used to the pain unfortunately,
I pierced my own ears a bunch
of times when I was in high school.
I had my lip pierced out one time,
my monroe, I had my cartilage.
I wanted to get my nose,
and I got my nipple pierced.
And my regulator piercings too,
oh, and my belly button.
Yeah so I think I'm going to be okay.
- Hahaha.
- [Brian] She say hahaha.
- I told her it's like scratching an itch
you just don't reach on your own.
- Yeah.
(upbeat music)
- So after getting our daiths pierced,
we found out that Brian's become super famous
for creating constellation piercings.
A trend that's blowing up online.
So I sat right down and demanded
to know more about that as a witchy star stuff.
Cue more smoke!
More spooky.
- Spooky.
A constellation piercing can be really anything you want.
When you look up at the stars,
a constellation is just a multitude of white little lights
that look like diamonds flickering at you,
and you can let your imagination go wild.
According to the term constellation piercing,
I remember I was new on Instagram,
and then I started using it.
- Kind of like reading someone's aura,
Brian customizes the constellation piercing,
based on your personality and energy.
And me being a spiritual astrology,
obsessed hoo!
I'm all about that (beep).
Do we hop back in the chair to get our constellations?
- People ask me,
how do I do this?
I try to take your style into consideration?
The way you wear your hair, your overall vibe.
It's not just about how you're wearing your clothes,
or your hair it's also about how you're carrying yourself.
The second we say hello, I'm vibing with you,
and seeing what we're gonna do
and how we're gonna do it.
(upbeat music)
- Did you pierce anything?
- Mm-hmm!
- Oh my God I didn't even feel it.
- I want it to just flow with you.
And I want it to be different and unique.
Yeah it's too much for you.
- See the vibe wasn't right.
- She's more minimalistic.
And I just needed to feel it out.
That's why you wanna mark first,
sometimes I have to see it, to believe it.
Sometimes I'll have an idea in my mind in the waiting room,
and when we get to the back,
I've completely changed it all.
So I've changed,
and decided to do something more traditional,
but yet equally better.
- Awesome.
- I put the jewelry in.
(upbeat music)
- Oh yeah that's a vibe.
- That's better.
- Yeah?
- She didn't even freaking blink on that one.
- Sometimes I feel like people think
that I'm not trying hard,
and then I'm just like ta ta ta!
(upbeat music)
At first we're like whoa!
Then they'll say that's kind of exactly what I was thinking.
Check it out.
- Oh wow!
- Oh my gah!
(upbeat music)
- [Brian] It makes me feel so good,
when someone's just like,
that's exactly what I wanted.
- So great.
Oh my gosh.
I'm so excited.
I'm so happy.
Thank you.
Wow!
- My left side, feeling groovy,
but I am starting to get a flare
on my right side where I got the daith,
not where I got the daith,
but my right side is starting to have a flare.
I'm expecting it to be tender for the first 24 hours.
(whispers indistinctly)
But left side I mean, goddam,
who knew I was a black diamond though.
- For the first week, I couldn't really sleep on this side,
'cause it was a little painful, but so far so good.
I'm actually really surprised
how well everything is healing,
with the daith piercing,
I really think it has actually helped my headache.
I don't know if something else is going on.
If it's a placebo.
I don't know.
So that's great.
I'm very very happy with everything.
- Okay so it's been about a month and a half
since I got my piercings.
My right side feels completely healed.
I don't really feel it at all.
The side that got my constellations actually
unfortunately got infected a little bit.
I know exactly why it's because I'm constantly
touching my hair and putting on my mask.
Funny part was when I went
to go get antibiotics for my infection,
the doctor that I had, also got pierced by Brian,
and she absolutely loves her piercings.
I think the most helpful thing
has absolutely been the daith.
My tension headaches have gone down,
huh! So much.
I would recommend this
to anyone who is desperate for migraine relief.
You've heard me complain less about my headaches right?
- Yeah.
I'm really jazzed to just keep going
with this pain relief and see where it takes me.
(upbeat music)