Is Botox Headache Treatment Effective?

A recent report from the American Headache Society suggests that using Botox headache treatment may be an effective preventive treatment for headaches and migraine. 80% of chronic sufferers reported that after a Botox headache treatment their headaches reduced significantly and became less intense.

Botox is a trade name for Botulinum toxin A. Many people use Botox injections to alleviate the onset of wrinkles and ‘frown’ lines for a more youthful appearance. But for chronic headache sufferers who have tried various other means of headache relief and treatments without success, using Botox actually resulted in excellent pain relief. Off the shelf headache medications can sometimes cause side effects such as drowsiness, stomach upsets and weight gain but side effects from Botox headache treatments are relatively rare.

For the purpose of headache treatment, the Botox, in the form of a liquid is injected under the skin, rather than the muscle. Doctors believe Botox works by preventing the protein that carries the message of pain to the brain. The most encouraging results were for migraines, especially those where other medications did not seem to work particularly well.

A word of caution though. Botox has not been officially approved for use for headaches by the FDA, and they don't know what the long-term risks and benefits are when used for headaches. Consult your doctor about whether or not Botox is the right treatment for your headaches. And a further word of warning; in one study, it was only effective for complete headache relief in about a third of the patients it was tested on. Another third found partial relief from headaches, and a third experienced no significant differences. Other studies have had better results.

Learn how simple exercises can permanently eliminate this dreadful condition. This informative program explains how to cure headaches and then gives you a simple, step-by-step approach to deal with it through easy exercises.

Our thanks to Gabrielle Richardson, a medical practitioner in private practice, for this insightful article on Botox Headache Treatment.