Botox For Migraine Headaches Specialist

What is Botox?

Botox is a form of botulinum toxin derived from a bacterium, but in purified, controlled, tiny doses injected into specific areas, it temporarily reduces muscle contractions.

Botox is an FDA-approved treatment method to reduce the pain of chronic migraines. Migraines are considered chronic if you experience 15 or more headache days each month. Chronic migraines are usually more frequent and feature more severe pain.

How does Botox work to treat migraines?

Botox prevents headaches and migraines before they start. The treatments take approximately 20 minutes, and you typically schedule repeated treatments every 12 weeks.

Dr. Renk uses a very fine needle to inject small amounts of Botox into the shallow muscles in your skin and around the pain fibers involved in your headaches. Each treatment entails approximately 31 injections in seven key areas of the head and neck for optimal pain relief.

Botox enters the nerve endings around the injection site and blocks the release of chemicals that play a role in pain transmission, effectively preventing the activation of pain networks in the brain.

These injections can also calm and prevent muscle spasms and relax muscle tension that could be contributing to migraines. Although highly successful, Botox isn’t a permanent solution. After several months, the nerves can sprout new pain fibers and headaches may return.

What are the benefits of using Botox to treat migraines?

Using Botox to treat migraines offers many benefits — it’s a quick and convenient in-office treatment with no downtime. Botox is highly effective, and with the right medical supervision from a qualified specialist like Dr. Renk, the treatment can yield impressive pain-relieving results.

There’s no risk of drug interaction, and you can take your medications as normal and resume your daily activities right away.

For many women and men, Botox is a sufficient headache solution, for others, Dr. Renk uses Botox alongside other treatment methods as part of a long-term treatment plan to achieve the best results.

Dr. Renk has extensive experience providing Botox injections for chronic migraine relief. Call the office to learn about this effective treatment method.