Did you know that Botox was discovered in the 1820s? Despite the fact that it is a very popular injectable product that received FDA approval in the 2000s, its main active ingredient, botulinum toxin, had been first found more than two hundred years ago!
These days, Botox is extensively used by healthcare providers for a wide range of medical and cosmetic purposes, starting from chronic migraine prevention and ending with dynamic wrinkle reduction.
But how much does Botox for chronic migraine headaches cost? Check out the below-mentioned article to find an answer to this question!
P.S.
If you would like to buy Botox online cheap, check out what Ogomed offers. However, please note that it belongs to prescription-based products. Thus, only a certified healthcare provider is eligible to use it.
What Is Botox?
Botox is a brand of injectable products based on botulinum toxin. It is a naturally-occurring substance produced by the bacterium of Clostridium Botulinum that has strong muscle-relaxing properties. Therefore, Botox is used to treat a wide range of aesthetic and medical issues related to muscle contraction.
Among other brands that manufacture botulinum toxin products are Bocouture, Dysport, Xeomin, and many more. They all have similar properties and might also be used to take care of different cosmetic and health problems (including chronic headaches).
Who Manufactures Botox?
The manufacturer of Botox is Allergan. It is a global pharmaceutical corporation that produces a broad assortment of injectable products, such as CoolTone, CoolSculpting, Juvederm, Kybella, Natrelle, and so on.
By means of combining profound experience and recent innovation in the pharmaceutical sphere, Allergan produces safe, effective, and long-lasting treatments (Botox treatment being one of them).
What Does Botox Treat?
Botox injections have strong muscle-relaxing properties. Therefore, they might be used to treat a great number of aesthetic and medical issues related to them. Below, you will find a short description of problems that might be addressed by Botox.
Aesthetic Issues
Botox is an FDA-approved treatment of dynamic wrinkles, such as nasolabial folds, crow’s feet, and marionette lines. By means of relaxing muscle contraction, it effectively minimizes skin creases that appear on a patient’s face due to overactive facial movements.
Moreover, the cosmetic treatment that involves a Botox injection might also be used to make a patient’s lips look fuller (this procedure is called Botox lip flip). As well, it might effectively fight facial asymmetry by means of relaxing facial muscles.
Medical Issues
Apart from its aesthetic indications, Botox might also be injected to take care of the following medical issues:
- Neck pain;
- Cervical dystonia;
- Overactive bladder;
- Lazy eye;
- Excessive sweating;
- Migraine (headache);
- And so on.
How Does Botox Work with Migraine?
Botox treatment might effectively reduce migraine symptoms by means of temporarily blocking nerve endings in the head and, therefore, minimizing pain signals that cause migraine attacks. This way, Botox might reduce your headache days to a minimum.
The above-mentioned process helps to prevent the activation of pain networks in the brain. As a result, a patient does not feel any headache up until the nerves sprout new pain fibers and the migraine returns.
P.S.
Botox injections for migraines are approved by FDA for the treatment of patients over the age of eighteen. However, they might also be used as an ‘off-label’ treatment for children or adolescents.
What Does the Injection of Botox for Migraine Look Like?
Due to the fact that Botox belongs to products intended for professional use, it should be injected exclusively by a certified healthcare provider with a valid medical license (for instance, a headache specialist). This way, the risk of unwanted complications will be minimized.
Under normal circumstances, Botox injections for migraine look as follows: after investigating the overall health condition of a patient and making sure that there are no contraindications to the treatment, a healthcare provider uses a very small needle to administer botulinum toxin into seven key areas of head and neck.
The above-mentioned procedure usually takes about twenty minutes. It is minimally invasive that does not require any special preparation or downtime. Usually, a patient is expected to get back to their usual activity as soon as the injection process is completed.
How Many Units of Botox Should Be Injected to Treat Migraine?
In most cases, about 155 units of Botox should be intramuscularly injected to effectively treat migraine (chronic headache). Normally, this dose is administered as thirty-one injections (0.1 ml or 5 units each) divided between seven specific head and neck muscle areas (namely, forehead, neck, shoulders, temples, upper back, back of the head, and upper bridge above the nose).
Still, the above-mentioned dosage of Botox injections for chronic headaches might slightly vary depending on the individual needs of a patient (such nuances as the intake of any additional medications, the number of headache days per month, and the age of a patient play a role here). The exact number of Botox units for migraine injections should be defined by a healthcare provider.
When Not to Inject Botox for Migraine?
Despite the fact that the injection of Botox is an effective treatment for migraine that blocks pain transmission, it is not recommended to be used under any of the circumstances mentioned below:
- If a patient is under the age of eighteen;
- If a patient is pregnant or breastfeeding;
- If a patient has not yet tried any other non-invasive methods to treat migraine (for instance, blood pressure medications);
- If a patient has an allergy to botulinum toxin;
- If a patient has a serious health problem;
- And so on.
What Side Effects Can Botox Cause?
In most cases, migraine treatment with the help of Botox works without leading to the appearance of adverse reactions. However, it might lead to the appearance of the following side effects (that usually resolve on their own in a couple of days after the injection):
- Itching, swelling, or redness around the injection site;
- Blurred vision;
- Excessive tearing;
- Drooping eyelids;
- Overall muscle pain;
- And so on.
When Will the First Results of Botox for Migraine Appear?
Normally, the first results of Botox for migraine appear within four weeks after the treatment. Moreover, many patients have to undergo at least two treatment cycles with a ten to twelve-week interval between them before noticing substantial results of the procedure.
Botox treatments for migraines are considered to be effective if a patient experiences a 30% to 50% reduction of migraines after the second treatment cycle. Moreover, some patients reported that Botox injections managed to reduce their tension-type headache days by more than 80%.
How Long Does Botox for Migraine Last?
In most cases, Botox injections for migraine provide a patient with long-lasting but nevertheless non-permanent results. Depending on the individual peculiarities of each patient (such as their current health condition, age, and lifestyle), they might last from two to six months.
At the same time, the average duration of the results after Botox treatments equal three months. However, they might be substantially prolonged by periodical touch-up injections of botulinum toxin.
How Much Does Botox for Migraine Cost?
According to the American Headache Society, injections of 155 units of Botox for migraine treatments might cost from $300 to $600. However, these price tags are strongly individual and vary depending on the geographical location of a patient, the peculiarities of the clinic, and the qualification of a healthcare provider.
Furthermore, some insurance companies offer either full or partial coverage of Botox treatments for chronic migraines. Therefore, they might turn out to cost nothing for certain patients under specific circumstances.
Final Words
All in all, an injection of Botox is an effective way to treat chronic migraines. While costing around $500, it helps numerous patients get rid of their periodical headaches and, therefore, boosts the quality of their lives to an absolutely new level!