Everyone suffers from headaches from time to time, both men and women. Do you suffer from headaches very often, is the pain more severe and/or does it interfere with your daily life? Then you may be suffering from tension headaches or migraine. For several years now, botox has been an approved treatment for tension headaches and migraines. What [...]
What is migraine?
Migraine is an attack of severe headache. An attack can last from half a day to three days. The pain is throbbing, usually on one side of the head. There is often nausea and vomiting as well. Shortly before the attack, glares, flashes or wavy images are sometimes seen.
What is tension headache?
The pain is on both sides of your head, around your head or in the neck. The pain is pressing, pinching or like a tight band around the head. The pain is mild to moderate. The muscles of the shoulders, neck and skull are often especially sensitive. You may also be bothered by bright light or loud noise. You may feel less like eating, but you are not nauseated. With exertion, such as climbing stairs, the pain does not get worse. The pain lasts from minutes to many days. With tension headaches, you usually manage to continue with your activities.
Botox as a treatment for tension headaches and migraines
It goes without saying that you should first see your family doctor with your headache symptoms. He or she can discuss with you whether you have tension headaches or migraines. There are also different medications and the doctor may refer you to a neurologist. However, have you had symptoms for a long time, have you discussed everything carefully with your GP, are the medications not working or not enough? Or do you prefer not to take medication? Then you are welcome to discuss with us whether botox might do something for you.
Botox can work for both tension headaches and migraines. Botox is a muscle relaxant. In fact, one of the possible triggers of migraine is the involuntary tightening of muscles. In addition, there can also be a mixed picture (you have both types of headaches).
How does botox work for migraines and tension headaches?
By injecting botox into various muscles, it can no longer tighten them. It does not make the pain disappear completely, however, it reduces in intensity of pain and, in the case of migraine, the attacks.
Together with the doctor, you look at where in your personal case the botox might work best. Some examples of commonly used areas are:
* The forehead
* The neck (for headaches rising from the neck)
* The jaw muscle (for headaches caused by teeth grinding, for example).
Treatment
After an intake, you and the doctor decide which zones will be treated. In each zone you will receive a few small pricks to inject the botox. The treatment takes a maximum of 15 minutes. The effects are noticeable after about a week and can last for 3 to 4 months the first time. If you continue the botox treatment, we often see that the interval of the treatment gets longer and longer, up to six months.
Cost of treatment
The cost depends on how many areas are treated.
Interested? Do you have experiences, did it work or not? Share them with us!
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Marieke van Hemert, esthetician and family physician
See also www.thuisarts.nl
