Cet article fait partie des archives en ligne du HuffPost Québec, qui a fermé ses portes en 2021.

Le perçage de la racine de l'hélix pourrait diminuer les symptômes de la migraine

Ce perçage pourrait-il guérir les migraines?

Vivre avec des migraines peut être tout un cauchemar.

Un nombre grandissant de victimes de migraines se tourne vers une solution de rechange particulière pour soigner leur mal : le « daith piercing », soit un perçage qui entoure la racine de l’hélix dans l’oreille.

Les défendeurs de cette méthode soutiennent qu’elle fonctionne de la même façon que l’acupuncture, ciblant des points de pressions qui réduisent l’inconfort.

Plusieurs personnes se sont prononcées sur les réseaux sociaux quant à leur expérience positive avec le perçage, dont Nicole Bandes.

Sur Facebook, la gestionnaire de l’Arizona a indiqué que le perçage avait très bien fonctionné pour elle.

« J’ai vu une diminution de la fréquence et de l’intensité de mes migraines, alors que rien ne semblait pouvoir m’aider. Mon mari a remarqué avant moi. Peut-être n’étais-je seulement pas à admettre que ça marchait vraiment. »

« Depuis que je l’ai, je crois que j’ai eu moins de cinq migraines. Seulement une d’elles m’a rendue complètement non-fonctionnelle pour une journée. J’ai dramatiquement réduit ma consommation de médicaments contre la migraine. »

Natalie Thompson est une autre adepte de la procédure. En entrevue à BBC Radio Leicester, elle a raconté son histoire de migraines, qu’elle endure depuis plus de trois ans.

« Mes maux de tête sont passés d’un 5 à un 6 sur 10 à un 3, après m’être fait percer », a indiqué celle qui a accordé l’entrevue quatre semaines après le perçage.

« Je ne m’en suis pas encore sortie. Je prends encore des médicaments et je n’ai rien changé dans les quantités prescrites par les médecins. Mais depuis le perçage, j’ai beaucoup moins de maux de tête. »

Alors, est-ce que ce perçage marche vraiment?

Il y a peu de science à ce sujet. Certaines personnes trouvent du soulagement dans cette méthode, mais ça ne fonctionne certainement pas pour tout le monde », estime le Dr Thomas Cohn, qui se spécialise dans le soulagement des maux de tête.

Il explique que si les perçages de la racine de l’hélix semblent être une nouvelle tendance, la localisation du perçage est ciblée par les acuponcteurs depuis toujours.

Simon Evans, le PDG de Migraine Action, une organisation britannique, croit que ces perçages ne sont pas pour tout le monde.

« Nous avons été heureux de constater que certaines personnes réussissaient à se soulager », a-t-il indiqué à nos collègues du Huffpost britannique.

« Malheureusement, ce qui peut fonctionner pour quelqu’un peut rendre la condition de l’autre pire, alors nous avons besoin de la traiter avec attention, particulièrement quelques jours après le perçage. »

« Nous recommandons fortement que les patients atteints de migraines poursuivent le traitement prescrit par leur médecin. »

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INOLTRE SU HUFFPOST

Ces célébrités qui souffrent de migraine
Marcia Cross(01 of13)
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The "Desperate Housewives" actress has been suffering from migraines since she was 14.

"You become very isolated," she told People magazine about how the pain affected her relationships. "You feel underwater and out of touch."

But educating herself through the years has allowed her to gain control over the problem.

"I've learned a lot about migraines," she told LifeScript.com, "like what things trigger mine and how to avoid them."

She has also identified food triggers (like red wine and oranges) to avoid and de-stresses with exercise, such as yoga and hiking.

"In the past, it was a 'go home, shut the blinds, and you lost the day' thing," she told Health magazine a few years ago. "But I've found that if you don't eat that chocolate bar or have that red wine, you can really reduce them."
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Lisa Kudrow(02 of13)
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As a child, the "Friends" star suffered from excruciating migraines -- when the California family traveled to Disneyland, for instance, "a day of excitement and eating would always end in a horrible headache," Kudrow once told People magazine.

According to the Mayo Clinic, as many as 90 percent of people with migraines have a family history of the condition. Kudrow's father, Dr. Lee Kudrow, suffered from cluster headaches and, according to People, actually devoted much of his medical career to being a headache specialist.
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Cindy McCain(03 of13)
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As the wife of Arizona senator and one-time presidential candidate John McCain, Cindy McCain has lived, by all accounts, a public life. But she told The New Yorker in 2009 that she has long suffered what she calls "a silent struggle" with migraines.

"I've missed part of my life. I've missed my children in many ways," she told the publication. "I've made every important event, but there're times I've been throwing up out the car window."

After years of being dismissed by doctors as just another "neurotic" woman, McCain told Neurology Now that she wasn't accurately diagnosed until age 40.

Now she is speaking out about the condition in hopes of raising awareness and securing funding for future research. "This is a legitimate problem and a legitimate disability for us," she said at a 2009 conference of the American Headache Society, according to an ABC report.

The New Yorker reports that McCain has identified headache triggers, and tried numerous treatments options such as acupuncture, massage, biofeedback and medication to stave off attacks.
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Ben Affleck(04 of13)
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While three out of four migraine sufferers in the United States are women, there are still millions of men who can count themselves as migraineurs -- including Ben Affleck.

According to news reports, the actor was treated for a migraine headache in a Boston-area emergency room on Memorial Day 2006.

And in 2010, the New York Post reported that a migraine sidelined Affleck from participating in the World Series of Poker "Ante Up for Africa" tournament in Las Vegas.
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Kristin Chenoweth(05 of13)
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In 2009, after winning an Emmy for outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series, Chenoweth had to put the celebration on hold to cope with a migraine attack, HuffPost reported at the time.

Earlier this year, the actress told Prevention magazine that she gets Botox to cope with the pain. "When I was 35, I was having debilitating migraines about once a week," she said in the interview. Hesitant to try the treatment at first, her doctor convinced her that it could help. "So I let her do it, and I haven't had a full-blown headache since."

A report published in April found that the main ingredient in Botox might provide some relief for people with chronic migraines, according to Reuters. But the study's lead researcher told Reuters Health that the effect, while it exists, is still "really, really modest."
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Janet Jackson(06 of13)
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In 2008, Jackson's publicists revealed in a statement that the singer suffers from a "rare form of migraine called vestibular migraine or migraine-associated vertigo," WebMD reported. A particularly bad bout kept her from touring for three weeks, according to Rolling Stone.

Vestibular migraines are a type of migraine where dizziness is the main symptom, instead of head pain, Scientific American explains. Symtoms can include a sensation of spinning, vomiting, ear ringing and loss of coordination, MedicineNet.com reports.
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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar(07 of13)
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The 7'2" basketball star told People magazine that he suffered his first migraine attack at age 15 -- the pain continued on and off every few years, returning first in college and then again when he joined the pros.

Through the years, Abdul-Jabbar said he has tried acupuncture, yoga, various diet changes and biofeedback to help control his migraines.

"Fortunately, in my 14-year pro career I've only missed two or three games during the regular season due to migraines, and I've never missed a play-off game," he told People in 1983.

In a 1985 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Abdul-Jabbar shared that he suffered six migraines in nine days during the previous season's championship series.

"What makes it so difficult is that people think you are just having a regular headache," he told the LA Times. "You just can't explain them to someone who doesn't have them."
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Michele Bachmann(08 of13)
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Last July, the then presidential hopeful's migraines started a media firestorm, with critics questioning whether the condition could incapacitate her from carrying out the stressful duties of a presidency.

"Let me be abundantly clear -- my ability to function effectively has never been impeded by migraines and will not affect my ability to serve as commander in chief," Bachmann said in a statement released by her campaign, HuffPost reported at the time.
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Loretta Lynn(09 of13)
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The performer revealed in her book"Coal Miner's Daughter" that she's suffered from migraines since age 17. She wrote:

Some people believe migraines are caused by tensions in your job or in your marriage. But I feel like mine are just a family weakness. I remember my Daddy had 'em. He'd pace the floor just holding his head and sobbing. Now it was starting to catch up with me. I could feel this ache coming on, and unless I'd lie own and sleep, it would turn into this headache that would make me just pass out.
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Serena Williams(10 of13)
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It took five years after her first attack at age 18 for the tennis star to be diagnosed with menstrual migraines.

"I'd never heard of them before," she told Newsweek in 2005. "All this time, I thought it was a regular migraine."

Between 60 and 70 percent of female migraine sufferers find that attacks are timed to their menstrual cycles, according to WebMD, earning these headaches the name of menstrual migraines. And in 2005, Newsweek reported that Williams joined the newly formed National Menstrual Migraine Coalition (part of the National Headache Foundation) as a spokesperson.

To keep her headaches under control, Williams takes medication, tries to avoid salt and stays away from bright lights when an attack is coming on.
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Carly Simon(11 of13)
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In 2009, the singer opened up to Neurology Now about her struggle with migraines, sharing that she tries to avoid alcohol, which seems to trigger attacks. (credit:Getty)
Jeff Tweedy(12 of13)
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Lead singer and guitarist for the band Wilco, Tweedy told The New York Times that he's suffered from headaches his whole life -- and so did his mother and sister.

"My own theory is that, in my case, my migraines were connected to my mood disorders," he told the publication in 2008.

And he's come to understand the stigma of migraines firsthand.

"Even being a migraine sufferer I understand that instinct to not believe it when someone says, 'I have a migraine,'" he told the Times. "Obviously I have a ton of compassion but its such a strange thing to try to communicate."
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Troy Aikman(13 of13)
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The former Dallas Cowboys quarterback has suffered from migraines since childhood -- and he believes his father's smoking was likely a trigger, the Washington Post reported. (His sister also had migraines.)

In 2007, he partnered with the migraine drug Imitrex as a spokesperson, hoping to raise awareness that migraine isn't just a "women's disease."
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-- Cet article fait partie des archives en ligne du HuffPost Canada, qui ont fermé en 2021. Si vous avez des questions ou des préoccupations, veuillez consulter notre FAQ ou contacter support@huffpost.com.