Botox Injection May Prevent Migraines

(February 16, 2010) - Injections of the same type of botulinum injection used for cosmetic purposes may help people with migraines. (Read about "Migraine Headaches") Botulinum injections are often referred to as Botox, which is a registered trademark.

A new study, published in the Archives of Dermatology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals, found the injections may be associated with reduced frequency of migraine headaches that are described as crushing, vice-like or eye-popping (ocular), but not pain that is experienced as a buildup of pressure inside the head.

Migraine headaches affect approximately 28 million Americans, causing pain that is often debilitating, according to background information in the article. Researchers conducting clinical trials on botulinum toxin type A to treat facial lines recognized a correlation between injections and the alleviation of migraine symptoms.

Researchers studied 18 patients (average age 50.9) who had already received or were planning to receive botulinum injections for cosmetic purposes but also reported having migraines. Of those, 10 reported imploding headaches - described by adjectives like crushing and vice-like - or ocular headaches, reported to feel like an eye is popping out or that someone is pushing a finger into an eye. Nine patients had exploding headaches, described as feeling like one's head is going to explode or split, or that pressure is building up. Some patients had more than one type.

Three months after treatment, 13 patients had responded to the treatment with a reduction in migraine pain, including 10 who had imploding or ocular headaches and three who had exploding headaches. All six of the patients who did not respond had exploding headaches.

Among all participants who responded to treatment, migraine frequency was reduced from an average of 6.8 days per month to an average of 0.7 days per month. Patients with exploding headaches experienced an average reduction in migraine frequency of 11.4 to 9.4 days per month, whereas frequency in participants with imploding or ocular headaches reduced from an average of 7.1 days per month to 0.6 days per month.

"These preliminary data are intriguing, and our results provide support for the hypothesis that patients with migraine that is characterized by imploding and ocular headaches are more responsive to botulinum toxin type A than those with migraine characterized by exploding headaches," the authors write.