Have you got migraines that are troublesome and impact your quality of life but no medication seems to help? As a person living with migraine, every aspect of your life can be impacted. Maybe your migraine attacks are frequent and sometimes severe, making you spend less time with your family and hindering you to succeed at work.
If you have frequent headaches and migraines every month, and you find that the prescription drugs you are taking are not making much of a difference, try treatment with botulinum toxin. This treatment is available through the NHS health system in England and fully funded but has not been approved for funding in New Zealand as yet.
Frequently Asked Questions
Botox aims to make you have less frequent and less severe migraine attacks.
Most people will notice an improvement of their migraines after one treatment but require two treatments cycles before they see their maximum result. A good response to treatment is a reduction of headaches between 30 to 50%.
Studies have shown that approximately 10% of people who received treatment will not notice a difference and it is impossible to predict who will not benefit from the treatment.
It is recommended to have 5 treatments over 15 months. It is unknown if Botox is safe if used longer than that. Some patients receiving Botox for migraine will not experience a relapse of their migraine after the treatment was discontinued but as yet, we are unable to identify those patients in advance.
Migraines are treated with a standardized treatment protocol provided by the FDA (Food and Drug Association) that entails 31 injection points per treatment requiring 155 units of Botox. Areas injected include the forehead, the temples, the back of the head, the neck the bridge of the nose and the upper back (just above the shoulder blades).
Treatment of migraines with botulinum toxin is remarkably safe. Most common side effects are neck pain and stiffness or sometimes a feeling of weakness in the neck and shoulder blades. This usually resolves after a few days, rarely weeks.
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