Why you might need?
Botox injections are an effective treatment option for those with chronic migraine for whom tablet treatments are either not effective or well tolerated. Botox injections involve 31 - 39 tiny injections under the skin/into the muscles around the head, upper neck and shoulders. Many patients prefer this type of treatment to oral medications.
The injections can be complete in around 10 - 15 minutes however your nurse or consultant may take some time to look at your headache diary, discuss your headache pattern, and explain the procedure prior to the procedure.
Treatment Info
They are generally very well tolerated. Rarely there can be transient muscle weakness; however, these can be avoided in future injections by altering the dose of Botox used and the area injected. There may be some temporary worsening of the pain for 1-2 weeks after the injections. As with any medication, there is a very small risk of an allergic reaction. In general, you can return to normal activities after your injections.
Treatment Recovery
The injections are usually repeated every 12 weeks until you no longer have chronic migraine. Though a large proportion of patients notice an improvement after the first set of injections, some do not start to improve until after the second set of injections which is given 12 weeks later; therefore it is recommended that at least 2 sets of injections are given 12 weeks apart to accurately assess responses to treatment.
