Do you get migraines? Botox might be in your future…

Botox^® is very well known as a treatment for facial wrinkles of the forehead or creases between the eyebrows (glabellar lines) but it has multiple other uses that are less familiar to the general public.

Here is another use for botulinum toxin that we offer to our patients.

Botox for Chronic Migraines: Surprising but true, it really works

Headaches are never fun but migraines are the worst. They can be debilitating to patients who get them sometimes preventing them from working or enjoying their families or normal daily activities. While there is no known cure for migraines, there are a handful of different treatments, like botox, that can relieve you of the symptoms.

Thankfully for chronic sufferers, defined as headaches 15 or more days per month, Botox^® is an FDA-approved treatment for migraine headaches. You must be age 18 or older to receive Botox for migraines. Minors may be treated for migraine with parental consent and, in fact, they are most likely found in teenage girls.

The treatment involves being seen by a licensed medical professional in our office who places the botulinum toxin into multiple injection sites around the head and neck. The treatment is a cumulative one: it may take up to four weeks or more after treatment before a reduction in frequency of migraines is apparent and more than one treatment of Botox injections might be necessary. Patients who get Botox injections for migraines usually get the treatment about every three months.

Botox^® is known to block the neuro-chemical which causes muscle contraction. Botox^® also prevents the release of chemical messengers that trigger pain receptors. The effect of Botox® on other chemical transmitters may explain its many uses.

Most people report symptom relief within 10 days and treatments are repeated every 12 weeks. There have been no serious cases of Botox^® spreading to other areas of the body.

The effectiveness of Botulinum toxin type A, or Botox^®, for migraine headaches was actually discovered while it was being used for cosmetic purposes. It was shown that patients receiving it for wrinkles also reported fewer headaches and has been approved by the FDA for the treatment of migraines since 2010.

If you are interested in a free consultation to discover if Botox^® is an appropriate treatment for your migraines call us at (949) 477-9740 or use our handy contact form.

Related Botox reading: