Claim Check: Botox Can Cure Migraine Headaches Too!
The Claim: Botox injections can help "correct" migraine headaches by targeting their trigger.
The Background: RealSelf experts have actually been asked about this for a while, but a just-released study in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), says that 57 percent of the patients who were treated with a surgical procedure similar to a forehead lift (and prepared for the surgery with Botox) reported "complete elimination" of their migraine symptoms a year later. And 83 percent of the surgery patients experienced a 50 percent reduction in symptoms after the year.
The Reality: Turns out, according to some of our experts, Botox really might work for migraines, without the additional surgery. Dr. Jonathan Hoenig of Beverly Hills says he's a migraine sufferer, and actually treats himself with it -- with good results. But, as several of the experts point out, make sure your surgeon/dermatologist knows what he or she is doing: As Dr. Jordana S. Gilman of Manhattan puts it, "The important thing to remember is that the precise location of injections is different when it is being used for migraines and when it is being used cosmetically to reduce wrinkles."
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43 posts
7 Aug 2009
When I read that study, I thought those statistics pertained to a real surgical operation, "similar to that of a traditional forehead lift," as they say.