Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Using Botox To Treat Migraines

By Cali Marinaw


In recent times, the uses for botulinum toxin treatments has increased significantly. There are clinics that offer effective treatments for cosmetic reasons and also for muscle spasticity disorders as well. In the recent past, its use has now been extended to treating migraines.

Below, we will be going over how botox treatments have been used as of late to for this reason.

The origins of using this treatment for migraines

The results of botox injections into muscle tissue is that nerve signals are paralyzed, which blocks signals to muscles so they stay relaxed. Clostridium botulinum is a bacterium contained in these injections, and that is the cause of the effect. 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 for migraine treatments

The release of serotonin which is a neuro-chemical, is how migraines are mediated. Treatments of botox do not affect that, but there is evidence that shows patients who find relief from migraine pain from the treatments.

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:

The first thing is that nerve signal pain is stopped from being received.

After that, the muscles in the scalp are relaxed, which in turn, causes the brain to have a lower blood pressure.

The research is still preliminary, but at this point, it seems that patients are finding that their headaches are less painful and frequent, and they are happier in general.

Botox injections are recommended for chronic migraine sufferers who have had headaches for more than 15 days in a month and in those who have not responded to different drug treatments. There is another condition that migraine sufferers sometimes are face with at times called analgesic overuse headaches, which are caused by the overuse of painkiller medication.

Each patient is different, so in cases where botox is administered 2 times and the patient has no benefit then other options should be considered, but if it makes headaches occur less than 15 days per month, this is another signal of success.

What risks are there?

Botox injections into the scalp may cause neck pain and allergic reactions, but these are rare.

Summary

Migraines are now being treated by injections of botox, but it's still a new application for this condition. Botox treatments for chronic migraine look like they are effective, but at this time, further study needs to be concluded in order for these claims to be verified.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment