You know that face you make with the wrinkles when you scrunch your eyebrows? Well, it’s almost if I have forgotten how, because I can no longer do so. If you haven’t guessed already, I have recently gotten BOTOX before this school year had begun, a few months ago. This was not to prevent me from wrinkles or anything like that…although it is kind of nice. However, BOTOX can apparently help cure chronic migraines, which I was unfortunately diagnosed with, which led me to having the option of trying BOTOX to see if it would help me out. This is a potential option that people who have been diagnosed with chronic migraines have. In this article, I will be informing all of you about how BOTOX for migraines work, the process of it, and the results of the procedure along with the possible side effects.
Coming from botoxchronicmigraine.com, the following are 5 facts that you need to know about the BOTOX treatment:
- “It prevents headaches and migraines before they even start. BOTOX®prevents on average 8 or 9 headache days and migraine/probable migraine days a month (vs 6 to 7 for placebo) at 24 weeks.
- It's given every 12 weeks. It will take 2 treatments, 12 weeks apart to determine how well BOTOX® is working for you. If you don’t get treated every 12 weeks, you may not get the full benefit of BOTOX®.
- It's a small needle. People say that the injections feel like tiny pinpricks.
- It's injected by a BOTOX® specialist.This is a doctor who's experienced in treating with BOTOX®.
- It takes about 15 minutes. The injections take about 15 minutes, and are done right in your doctor's office.”
THE PROCESS: Each BOTOX treatment usually consists of 32 injections, in the forehead, both temples, the back and sides of the neck, the upper shoulders, and the back of the head, however, depending on the patient, they may require more or less injections. Now, 32 injections seems like a lot, and trust me, from my own experience, it is. However, it literally takes barely two minutes. Every 12 weeks, or 3 months, the injections are reapplied. Quoting themigrainereliefcenter.com again, it states that “BOTOX begins to work as soon as it’s injected, and you should see full results within a week of your first injections. Most patients who benefit from BOTOX treatments receive five rounds of injections over 15 months. BOTOX is injected using a very fine needle. Most patients describe it as feeling like a tiny pinprick,” which is honestly not bad at all.
THE RESULTS: Like any other procedure, there are no guaranteed results with BOTOX and results, whether they are positive or negative, may vary from each patient. According to themigrainereliefcenter.com, “Though BOTOX is not effective for all types of headaches, about 90% of patients report that their migraines are less frequent and not as severe after their BOTOX treatment.” The following are some results reported from patients:
- 81 percent reported less frequent and/or less intense head pain
- 61 percent reported excellent pain relief
- 20 percent reported some pain relief.
THE SIDE EFFECTS: Although the BOTOX treatment for chronic migraines benefits many who suffer from them, there is also the possibility of having side effects. These side effects may include bruising, discoloration of the skin and skin lumpiness. BOTOX may also cause serious side effects that can be life threatening. Therefore, if this happens to you, you would obviously need to get medical help immediately if you begin to experience these unfortunate side effects that occur any time, from hours to weeks, after you get the BOTOX injections. Some of these life threatening side effects are the following:
- Problems swallowing, speaking, or breathing, due to weakening of associated muscles, can be severe and result in loss of life. You are at the highest risk if these problems are pre-existing before you get the injections in the first place. The potential swallowing problems can last for up to several months.
- Spread of toxin effects. The effect of BOTOX may affect areas away from the injection site and cause serious symptoms including: loss of strength and all-over muscle weakness, double vision, blurred vision and drooping eyelids, hoarseness or change or loss of voice, trouble saying words clearly, loss of bladder control, trouble breathing, and/or trouble swallowing.”
