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Botox, keep us looking younger, it is said to now help those who’s majority of life has been spent with excruciating headaches. But is it ok to give migraine suffering patients regular shots of botox around their necks, and heads?

What exactly is Botox, and where does it from?

Botulinum Toxin, (Botox) is a protein formed by the bacterium, Clostridium Botulinum. The toxin stops the brain from sending out chemical messages to the muscles, telling them to contract.

Preventing migraines with Botox?

About a decade ago, patients receiving Botox cosmetically, claimed it cured their migraines. The company that produced Botox, started advertising Botox as a treatment for migraines, shortly after the theory had surfaced.
With lacking evidence that the treatment was legit, the company was fined over $300 million for wrongful advertising.

What evidence is there that Botox is relieving migraines?

Afterwards, several trials came to the conclusion that the Botox treatment did not cure the chronic migraines. However, the Botox, did seem to reduce the number of days a person might have been affected by a migraine.

Is there enough evidence that Botox works?

The UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and US Food and Drug Administration agencies both permitted the treatment for sufferers of never-ending migraines, last year. There are still people that aren’t persuaded. Dr. Jes Olesen, neurologist, and the chief of Danish Headache Centre at Glostrup University Hospital, located in Denmark.

So why a dispute?

Olesen says, the majority of the participants were taking more pain medication then required. It was hard to tell if the participants had migraines, or pain pill overuse migraines. Also, it would be obvious to the experimental group that they received the Botox, instead of the placebo, because their facial images would change. This would corrupt the purpose of the experiment.

There are a few people that would have to disagree with Dr. Jes Olesen.

Neurologist, Sheena Aurora, says that chronic migraine sufferers, take pain pills normally, so the pills wouldn’t effect the trial. According to her, even a 10 percent increase can be a relief for the patients. Another Doctor says chronic migraines are very challenging to treat, and the critics of the trial aren’t helping the millions of migraine sufferers. He said the critics need to look at the larger picture.

Cosmetic procedures have long been known to have benefits beside looking good. Reconstructive surgery can correct deformities and other medical conditions. Latisse eyelash treatments are actually derived from a glaucoma medication. Trails have actually been successfully performed, to do total face lifts for accident victims. What may be surprising is that, Botox injections have also been found to have health benefits besides wrinkle relaxing.

Dr. Craig Morton and Dr. Tyson Green, of the Center for Orthopaedics in Lake Charles, Louisiana, are actually using Botox injections to help people to walk without pain. Dr. Morton told First Coast News, “If there’s damage to the brain or spinal cord, such as what you’d see in a spinal cord injury, head injury, stroke, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy – it can result in an abnormal posturing of the muscles of the hands and feet.” The muscle spasticities can cause the feet to stay contacted in certain positions. These positions can make it difficult or even impossible for the patient to walk comfortable. Dr. Green has shown that these instances are correctable with Botox injections. He said, “That’s when the botox will come into play to relax the contracture, so that we can either brace the foot or provide casting to provide stability and flexibility within the foot.”

Nursing Times reported that a trial was performed on 34 people with weak bladders to determine if Botox could treat them. Dr. Arun Sahai, from the Department of Urology at Guy’s Hospital and King’s College London School of Medicine, reported that Botox-A bladder injections did indeed help patients with weak bladders where other treatments had failed. Botox injections improved their overactive bladder symptoms
and improved the quality of their lives substantially.

More than 10,000 babies are born each year in the United States with cerebral palsy. Children with cerebral palsy often suffer from debilitating spastic muscle contractures. The Neurology journal has declared that Botulinum toxin -A (Botox) is an effective treatment of this. Botox injections can treat muscle tightness,
weakness, and abnormal reflexes in these children.

Botox is a popular non-surgical solution for both men and women to relax wrinkles. The injections help to loosen up the contracted muscle and thus smooth out the wrinkles. But this simple aesthetic compound has so much more potential. It is a vital tool in the treatment of many medical conditions and future research into Botox could prove it to have many more benefits.