Daith piercing in Auckland

What a daith is, and where it sits

The inner fold of cartilage above the ear canal. A ring goes through it, fitted to the curve.

Will it suit you?

How deep that fold runs decides whether a daith works at all. Where it is well formed, a ring sits in it as though it belongs there. Where it is shallow, the ring has nothing to sit against and presses on whatever is nearest instead.

We hold rings up against your ear before anything is marked, so you see which ones sit right.

There are five times we’ll tell you a daith isn’t the right call:

• Your fold is too shallow to hold a ring.
• You wear over-ear headphones every day.
• You wear in-ear buds every day. A daith sits right above the ear canal.
• The fold carries significant scarring from earlier piercings.
• Your ear won’t support the look you have in mind. We’ll say so, and show you what it will.

We would rather say no at the table than pierce on a maybe.

Does it hurt? What are the downsides?

It takes a moment longer than a helix: sharp pressure, then sore for a few weeks.

The downsides are all in the healing: nine to twelve months, no sleeping on it, and no in-ear buds in that ear for the first three or four months.

Does it help migraines?

There is no good evidence that it does, and we will not pierce you on that promise.

The idea is that the spot sits on a pressure point tied to migraine. Some people say theirs improved afterwards. Those are accounts, not trials, and nothing published shows a daith reliably reduces how often migraines come or how bad they are.

If migraines are affecting your life, start with your GP. If you want the piercing because you like it, that is a good reason, and it is done to the same standard either way.

Who pierces it

Tom or Kat, one client in the room, forty-five minutes.

Sixteen and over. Everyone brings photo ID.

What happens at the appointment

You sit at the low table with a mirror in your hand. We look at the fold and hold rings against your ear so you can see which ones sit right on you. Then the mark, which you see and agree with before anything else happens.

The piercing is one pass of a single-use sterile needle, following the angle of the fold, and the ring goes in at the same moment. A needle, never a gun. Your checkup goes in the book before you leave.

How long does it take to heal?

Nine to twelve months

1. Day onePierced, and your checkup booked before you leave.
2. Four weeksYour checkup, included. A daith usually needs no downsize. Swimming is fine from here.
3. Three to four monthsIn-ear buds back in that ear.
4. Nine to twelve monthsHealed. You can sleep on it, and the ring can change.

How to clean it

Warm water in the shower once a day is the whole clean. Turn your head so it runs into the fold, then let it dry, because water left sitting in there causes its own trouble. No cotton buds inside the fold, and nothing else goes on it.

Is this bump an infection?

Almost never.

A bump beside a healing daith is the usual complication, and it is pressure. Taking the cause away is most of the fix. Leave the ring where it is, don’t squeeze it, keep tea tree oil, Savlon and antiseptic away from it, and come in. If we pierced it, the look is included, healed or not.

When can the ring change?

Once it’s healed, at nine to twelve months. Until then the ring you were pierced with stays in.

Gold can go in on the day, so if you want a gold ring, choose it at the table and you won’t need to change it.

Can I have both ears done at once?

We’d rather not: while a daith heals you need a side to sleep on. Book the second once the first has settled, and we’ll tell you at your checkup when that is.

What goes in it

A ring sits best: a titanium ring fitted to the curve, or a solid 14k gold ring from the case, chosen at the table.

Three gold rings from the case for a daith, each pierced in the price

Fixed Prong Ring14k yellow gold · White CZ · 3/8in ring$500

Ripple Seam Ring14k yellow gold · White CZ · 3/8in ring$1,070

Bitter Sweet Seam Ring14k yellow gold · London topaz marquise · 3/8in ring$1,730

Pierced somewhere else and it isn’t right?

A daith that’s crooked, off the fold or never settled is usually placement, not aftercare. We’ll look at it and tell you plainly what we’d do, which sometimes means taking it out and piercing again in the right spot.

The look is $30, taken off a piercing if you have one with us.

What if I take it out?

A fresh daith usually closes if it comes out early. A healed one keeps a small mark.