Botox For Migraine – Now Proved

By Suparna Chakaraborthy

on October 22, 2010

You can now cure your chronic migraine along with wrinkles with a shot of Botox. This has now been confirmed by United States FDA (Food And Drug Administration).

Research on this has been going on since a long time and finally the U.S FDA has confirmed that Botox shots on head and neck and cure chronic migraine. To confirm this, the FDA undertook two experiment for 24 weeks each. The experiments involved 1,384 adults from North America and Europe. Both the experiments was funded by drug maker Allergen. After the first trial, people who received Botox shots for migraine were noticed to experience 7.8 fewer headache days and people who received just plain salt water, reported 6.4 fewer days of headache.

At the end of second trial, people who received Botox for migraine reported 9.2 fewer days of headache as compared to 6.9 fewer days of the ones who received salt water.

Seymour Diamond, executive chairman of the National Headache Foundation, says that although it is great to know that Botox works for headache but it should not be taken regularly. It cannot be a permanent cure. There are other medical treatments which are much better to treat headache. Botox for migraine might be helpful at the time of sudden attack of migraine specially for people who face it during season change.

Botox For Migraine Works

Migraine in short, occurs due to hyper activated muscles. Botox weakens or paralyzes these muscles by suppressing the release of acetylcholine by binding the nerve endings. The acetylcholine, sends the message to the muscles to contract, be it for wrinkles or as a reaction to health problems. By blocking the release of this chemical, Botox stops pain.

There are many other theories which answers how Botox works for migraine. One of the theories explains that tension and spasms are the main cause of headache. Botox eliminates the muscle tension. It is also believed that Botox stops the pain signals to reach the brain thus treating headache.

Botox for migraine takes few weeks time before it shows results. It should not be taken regularly. The dose should be restricted to once in three months to avoid any major side effects.