Botulinum Toxin for Migraine

What migraine is

Migraine is the commonest headache disorder and many people have it. It affects daily life heavily, and light, sound and alcohol can all be involved.

Migraine attacks affect social life and working life. There is no permanent cure.

During an attack, take a painkiller and wait for it to pass in a quiet, dark place.

What exactly causes migraine is also not known, which makes it harder to treat. The condition is common, and over time it advances and causes long-standing pain. Migraine varies in severity and can be eased under the care of a neurologist.

What triggers it

The exact cause is not known. The main contributing factors are

• Alcohol
• Various medicines
• Periods and hormonal changes in women
• Being very emotional and sensitive
• Being overweight
• Becoming tolerant to the painkillers used for migraine

What an attack is like

The signs differ from person to person, and attacks usually last 4 to 72 hours. During an attack there is headache and throbbing at specific points. Vomiting and nausea occur in some cases. How severe the pain is, and where it sits, change with the situation.

Patients usually become very sensitive to sound and light, and feel better in a dark place. Heavy physical activity also triggers the pain. Visual problems such as blurred vision appear in some patients as the attack continues.

Botulinum toxin

Not knowing the cause makes migraine hard to treat. Even so, botulinum toxin given by injection is known to help. That effect was discovered by chance.

Botulinum toxin acts on the nerves in the brain that produce pain and stops them releasing their signal. In this way it prevents migraine attacks.

This is a medical treatment, and it must be given under a specialist doctor.

The method is still being studied. It also relieves the trapping of nerves in the head and neck region, which is known to play a part in migraine pain. The aim is to treat the muscles, to make them work properly, and so to remove the conditions that produce pain.