The Emergence of Botox as A Headache Treatment


Migraine:

Botulinum toxin A has been around for about three decades, but its many benefits to the health of patients taking it are just starting to surface.

Medical doctors, especially in the United States, started injecting what is more popularly known as botox to patients who suffer from an eye disorder known as strabismus. Strabismus is characterized by an abnormal misaligning of the eyes, leading to crossed eyes.

In 1989, the US Food and Drug Administration approved the use of botox as a treatment for eye muscle disorders like uncontrolled twitching. Thus, the use of botox in the medical profession became wide spread.

But like many other drugs, the potential of botox has expanded beyond its original purpose. In the recent years, the drug has also been discovered to treat the awkward excessive underarm sweating and more importantly, to get rid and prevent wrinkles in the face.

Cosmetic treatment

It is its use as cosmetic treatment that botox's popularity rapidly shot up. From the United States, cosmetic surgeons and practitioners from across the globe started injecting botox to vanity-conscious patients who aim to prevent the onset of ageing in their faces.

Many ageing ladies, and several men as well, prefer to use botox to preventive premature and timely ageing wrinkles. It is because unlike other forms of treatment, botox does not involve the use of scalpels and surgical procedures.

The doctor would just need to inject the drug to several specific areas of the face and the neck for its effect to linger for at most six months. The satisfying result on earlier patients also has helped make the popularity of botox even more evident.

Botox as headache treatment

But did you know that recently, another used of the drug has been discovered accidentally? Yes, aside from helping patients prevent and control ageing wrinkles and eye muscle spasms, botox has been discovered as a potent drug to treat severe headaches.

In the medical profession, headaches were largely dealt by neurologists who specifically focus on the illness' diagnosis and cure. But until recently, plastic surgeons were accidentally linked to a longer-term treatment of headaches or migraines.

Several clinical tests have proven that the patients who were injected with the botox treatment for eye spasms and aesthetic purposes were spared from the onset and occasional attacks of migraines.

Surveys covering botox patients also confirm the notion. Those patients emphasized that after using botox, they have not experienced severe and even mild headaches, for at least six months.

Specific injection points

However, doctors note that to be able to treat headache episodes, botox has to be injected in specific areas of the body. Particularly, studies and reports of patients indicate that botox has to be injected in any of the following areas: the side and the back of the head, the forehead, the eyes and the muscles of the brow.

Other than the specified areas, botox injections are not found to lead to the prevention and cure of headaches. Those who suffer migraines on a daily, weekly and regularized basis are singled out as the primary beneficiaries of the new botox purpose.

It is logical that from the start of this new discovery, botox would further become popular not just for beauty-conscious people, but also for those who have grown tired of consulting to neurologists for the treatment of headaches.

Surpassing neurologists' prescriptions

The traditional headache treatments have almost become obsolete with the emergence of botox as a headache treatment. Thus, neurolgists' patients have expressed relief that they have been given alternative treatments than the conventional drugs for headaches like the sumatriptan, or more commonly known as Imitrex.

Side effects

Almost all medicines and treatments have side effects, and of course, botox is of no exception. However, the side effects linked to botox treatment are limited to inability to move the brow muscles, which to some patients is good because frown lines in the forehead can be alleviated.

Other than that, there is no other side effect linked to botox intake.

Botox has truly become extremely useful in the medical world. It is no wonder that the drug's popularity continuously rises up as years go by. Those who are afraid of needles are now given more reasons not to fear injections anymore.

Lee Dobbins writes for headache.topicgiant.com where you can learn more about the cause and treatment of all types of headaches as well as more about the botox headache.


Hot Topics In Migraine

    10 Easy Tips To Help Reduce Headaches

    The average headache is caused more by stress than any other factor. Relieving the pain (and preventing them altogether), can be fairly easy for most patients. Some of the ways anyone can help relieve...

    Migraine, Migraine, Go Away and Don't Come Back on Any Other Day

    A migraine headache can be extremeely painful and often debilitating. The severest forms of migraine can completely take over your life until you're unable to live normally. If you are suffering from ...

    Medication for Headaches

    There are many over the counter drugs that can be used to cure the common headache and even reduce fever. In some cases of persistent or severe headaches you could go to your doctor to get a prescript...

    Children and Headaches

    Children are just as susceptible to headaches as adults are. Too much exertion, heat, loud sounds, and bright lights can cause children to have headaches, and if a child feels a great deal of tension,...

    Medication For Headaches And Dizziness

    A headache can ruin anyone's day. It doesn't matter if the person is still studying or already working because this can happen anytime without any warning.

    People who experience headaches will say ...

    10 Easy Tips To Reduce Most Headaches

    The average headache is caused more by stress than any other factor. Relieving the pain (and preventing them altogether), can be fairly easy for most patients. Some of the ways anyone can help relieve...

    Migraine Headaches - Causes And Symptoms

    Migraine is one of the most painful and debilitating conditions a person may suffer from and what is worse, there is not much you can do about it. Migraine headaches are often caused by the changes in...

    A Meditation Technique for Dealing with Headaches

    De-stress yourself. This is particularly true for those who suffer from tension headaches. Below I have included some tips on how to distress your self.

    Meditation brings with it peace of mind as we...

    Low Testosterone And Headaches/Migraines?

    As a registered nurse I attend many classes, and recently had a small revelation about the relationship between age and the incidence of migraines headaches. Our teacher said that migraines headaches ...

    Not Another Headache!

    Most of us would usually take aspirin to relieve headache but contrary to a popular belief, aspirin doesn't cure all headaches. There are even possibilities that aspirin can masks symptoms that are ot...

Most Recent Migraine Supplements

Newly Popular Illness Articles

    Some Tips on Fighting Acne Successfully

    This skin disorder generally appears during puberty and always heals but the process of healing is difficult and can last sometimes for several years. Even though Acne is not dangerous it must be cons...

    Finding a Successful Allergy Treatment

    Millions of people suffer from allergies each year. When certain materials come into contact with a person suffering from a specific allergy, their immune system mistakenly believes the material to be...

    Living with Arthritis Pain

    One of the most important factors of living with arthritis is learning to successfully manage the joint pain and stiffness that inevitably comes along with the disease. Luckily we live in a time perio...

    Chronic Fatigue, Causes, Symptoms, Cures and Recommended Diet

    Chronic fatigue, or myalgic encephalomyelitis, is a special and difficult type of ailment that is characterized by prolonged weariness that is not directly linked to any other serous medical condition...

    Fiber Does More Than Just Lower Cholesterol

    If you have paid attention to the media recently, the experts are touting that getting more fiber in your diet will help lower cholesterol. This is good news with all the alleged problems and lawsuits...

    Don't Let Your Anxiety Attack Control Your Life

    There are many people in the world who suffer from some form of anxiety and for these people these panic attacks may be mild or they could be very severe. While there are many ways of treating anxiety...

    Medication For Headaches And Dizziness

    A headache can ruin anyone's day. It doesn't matter if the person is still studying or already working because this can happen anytime without any warning.

    People who experience headaches will say ...

    Arthritis Pain Relief - Getting Help Now Naturally

    I finally found relief from my arthritis pain, naturally, and you can too. Arthritis sufferers today are always seeking relief from their arthritis pain.

    As a result of arthritis, the bone just bene...

    Natural Medicine For Acid Reflux

    Natural medicine for acid reflux can be found in the more nutritious foods we should be eating. We have run so fast and hard after the harmful fast foods that relief from reflux literally stares us in...

    Allergy Fighting Vitamins and Herbs - For Children

    An allergy is a hypersensitivity to one or more things that are in the environment. The allergy can show itself as a skin condition such as eczema, respiratory conditions such as hay fever or asthma o...

Interesting Today:

Most Recent Illness Blogs:

Releated to Illness:

Migraine Links: