Botox: A Cure for Migraines?

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Suffer from migraines? You're not alone. Many others, including Julius Caesar, Napoleon, Thomas Jefferson, Emily Dickinson, Elvis Presley, Sigmund Freud, have all suffered the wrath of migraines. According to an ABC segment, more then 4.5 million Americans currently suffer from chronic daily headaches.

A migraine is a kind of neurological disorder that involves recurring headaches. These attacks range in intensity for each person, but severe attacks can be very debilitating. There is no cure for a migraine, but the goal is to control it and prevent further attacks.

“Can you imagine what it's like to have a headache every day of your life? To never wake up pain-free?” asked Stephen Silberstein, MD, a neurologist at the Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia.

Various studies show that Botox can eliminate the pain of migraines. Botox was FDA approved in 2002 for the use in plastic surgery procedures to fix unwanted frown lines, forehead creases, crows feet near the eye, but how can it help headaches?

Botox Studies

At a Botox Forum for the American Headache Society, presenters released findings of 13 studies that indicated Botox, when used on headache sufferers, reduced or eliminated the pain in a number of their subjects.

Doctors administer Botox by injecting it under the patient's skin. For migraines, doctors use an average of 10-25 Botox shots in the head, neck and shoulders.

The researchers suspect that Botox blocks the sensory nerve that relays pain messages to the brain and relaxes muscles, making them less sensitive to the brain and thus reducing the pain of the migraine.

A study by the Mayo Clinic in Arizona involving 48 subjects that received Botox injections showed a decrease of headache problems—the patients' migraine occurrences dropped by 50% or more.

American Society of Plastic Surgeon member, Dr. Bahman Guyuron, MD, at Case University in Cleveland, injected 29 patients with Botox in the corrugator muscle. Twenty-four—or 82 percent—of those patients reported improvements or even complete elimination of the pain.

Side Effects

The ABC commentary talked about Botox injections as having “fewer side effects” than other treatments. Side effects from the injections are very uncommon.

Martha Fritz suffered migraines that inhibited the functioning of her everyday life. She enrolled in a clinical trial for Botox. Botox worked for Martha and as long as she gets shots she remains headache-free.

“I don't miss work as much. I don't miss my son's baseball games so Botox has made a dramatic difference in my life,” she said.

Botox hasn't been FDA approved for the use in headaches/migraines, but all signs indicate that it could be a viable option for those who suffer.

(Article by: Donna Corrado)

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