Using Botox To Treat Migraines

By Cali Marinaw


There has been many new uses for botulinum toxin injections in recent years in the cosmetic medicine industry. Not only do clinics offer patients options to enhance their appearance using botox, there are other disorders that are treatable this way as well, including muscle spasticity. In the recent past, its use has now been extended to treating migraines.

In this article we shall take a brief look at this new application of botox injections.

The origins of using this treatment for migraines

Paralyzation occurs in the muscles due to botox injections, and because of this, the muscles stay in a relaxed position as they don't receive the nerve signals. It is produced by Clostridium botulinum, a bacterium. Its primary use is to relax the muscles around the eyes and other parts of the body, helping restore muscle tone and improving overall function.

Botox in migraine

The release of the neuro-chemical serotonin is the main way for migraines to be mediated. Botox does not have any effect on this, but studies have shown that it can still help reduce pain in patients suffering from migraine.

People are looking forward to the new research that is being done that seems to show that migraines can be reduced using these treatments. There are 31 to 39 different injection points in the scalp for botox. The basic theories that have been presented so far:

First, that it blocks the nerves from transmitting pain signals.

Then, the blood pressure in the brain is reduced by the scalp muscles being relaxed.

Patients are reporting less headaches, and less severe when they occur, although the research to document this is still ongoing at this time.

When a patient reports migraine headaches that happen for over 15 days a month, and do not receive relief from other types of treatment are sometimes recommended to have botox injections. A condition called 'analgesic overuse headache', which is headache due to overuse of painkillers, also needs to be ruled out.

Treatments should be stopped if 2 cycles of botox injection treatments have failed, or the character of the migraine has changed and no longer meets the criteria of occurring on 15 days of a month.

Any risks?

There have been rare reports of allergic reactions or neck pain from botox scalp injections.

Conclusion

Migraines are now being treated by injections of botox, but it's still a new application for this condition. It's looking good for the future of botox for treating chronic migraine symptoms, but more studies need to be done to have more conclusive evidence.




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