subject: The Connection between Botox and Migraines [print this page] The Connection between Botox and Migraines
The medicine, Botox injection, has been approved as treatment against chronic migraine in USA by the FDA. Since long Botox and migraines have been connected to each other, and now it is prescribed specially for migraine sufferers with the diagnosis of constant migraines.
Earlier Botox has been approved by the FDA as a treatment in cosmetic therapy and muscle relaxation.
Botox to treat chronic migraines is given at intervals of about 12 weeks as multiple injections around the head and neck to try to dull future headache symptoms, according to the FDA.
The FDA says it's important that patients who suffer chronic migraines discuss with their doctors whether Botox is appropriate for them.
Migraine is defined as a "distinct and severe neurological disorder characterized by patients who have a history of migraine and suffer from headaches on 15 or more days per month with headaches lasting four hours a day or longer."
Usually when treating chronic migraine, qualified medical specialists administer 31 Botox injections into seven specific head and neck sites.
It says that Botox, when injected at labeled doses in recommended areas, is expected to produce results lasting up to three months depending on the individual patient.
As we know chronic migraine is a debilitating but under-recognized neurological condition, and oftentimes, chronic migraine patients mistakenly self-diagnose their symptoms as headaches or infrequent migraine and treat them with drugs that provide rapid, but temporary, relief rather than seeking an evaluation, diagnosis and treatment from a qualified headache specialist. With the FDA's approval of Botox to prevent migraines, there is now a new option to reduce the days and hours spent in pain as a result of this condition. The FDA's approval for use of Botox to fight migraines was based on the results of two studies involving 1,384 adults in North America and Europe.
The studies, published in the March 2010 issue of Cephalalgia, report that patients treated with Botox experienced a major decrease in the frequency of headache days. Thus, it is good news for patients suffering from migraines and treating them as headaches, because now they can find long term relief with Botox treatment and lead normal, happy lives.
