How did Botox affect you?
This is for anyone who has tried Botox for migraines. I tried it (it didn't help) a while ago, but have lately been curious about the way it affected my forehead. It actually made my forehead wrinkle more than normal. I would have thought it would have had the reverse effect. At the time, I thought it was just that there were different injection points for migraines, vs cosmetic. But lately I've been wondering if perhaps it hadn't been injected properly. So just wondering - did Botox for migraines smooth your forehead, wrinkle it, or have no effect either way? Thanks for any insight.
I have been getting Botox for my migraines for about 2 years now. The Botox has left my forehead pretty much frozen with no wrinkles. I recently went to urgent care for a bad migraine and the doctor performed a basic neuro exam, during the exam he asked me to wrinkle my forehead and raise my eyebrows. I had to explain to him that I can't do that due to the Botox treatments. I have had more success with the Botox than with any other preventative drug I have tried. If you do consider trying Botox again please make sure your doctor is following the recommended 31 injection sites for migraines. I hope you find a treatment that works, please don't give up trying new treatments.
Glad you found relief with Botox. The problem with virtually all drugs except for Botox is they do nothing to treat tight muscles or tight fascia. Botox forces tight muscles to relax, that's why it works better than drugs that have zero effect on muscles and Fascia. It boggles my mind how little most physical therapists know about myofascial release and osteopathic manipulative treatment. If Botox is giving you relief, try osteopathic manipulative treatment. it's certainly cheaper than Botox.
Osteopathic manipulative treatment , which is basically a combination of osteopathic myofascial release and chiropractic adjustments. Search for a practitioner at the Canadian College of osteopathy. Osteopathic school in Canada includes five years of study, which is a lot more then any training the average physical therapist gets in manual therapy. My osteopath is really good at looking at my whole body, she won't assume that just because my knee hurts it must mean my knee is causing the pain. That's another reason she is different from the 12 other physical therapists that I went to. Don't lose hope. Don't give up. There is something out there that can help you even if it's not within modern medicine like an anti-inflammatory diet. My osteopath always goes to Canada for her continuing education (like seminars). The myofascial release seminars available here in the USA like the John Barnes seminars are too simple for her and she doesn't learn anything new. Of course, it's out of network with your insurance. The best physical therapists are always out of network. I don't even call her my physical therapist. I call her my miracle worker. Professionals who know how to work with a body with severe spasticity are few and far between.
There are more than 185,000 physical therapists in the USA. Less than 100 know osteopathic manipulative treatment. That's how completely different it is from any other physical therapy that you've done.
And I did it all. Orthopedic physical therapy, neurologic physical therapy, aquatic therapy , none of them gave me any pain relief and the orthopedic therapy made me worse, a lot worse.
And I tried myofascial release massage but she didn't know squat compared to my physical therapist/osteopath. Keep in mind in Canada , an "osteopath" is not a doctor like a D.O. here in the US. It's merely someone who knows osteopathic manipulative treatment. She's not from Canada, she's from the USA and commuted to Canada for her studies in osteopathic manipulative treatment .
Hi!
It's important to remember that everybody's experience with treatments are different but I will definitely give you my experience. Botox has helped lower the severity of my daily migraines and occasionally I go a day without having one of significant measure. I can normally tell when it is getting close to being time to needing another round of Botox because my migraines get uncontrollable.
The weekend of my Botox treatment can be a rough weekend so I typically do not make plans for that weekend just to be safe.
As far as it working or not, I would want to ask how many rounds you did before you discontinued it as an option. I only bring this up because I had to take it more than one or two rounds before it began to help me. I did not experience any wrinkles from it.
Amanda Workman (Moderator & Contributor)Put ice packs on as soon as possible after the injections and it will reduce the swelling and soreness at the injection sites. Do NOT wait until you get home to put the ice on, even if you're only 15 minutes from home. The size of the needle can also make a big difference in how much soreness you have. My doctor has been practicing medicine for 30 years but apparently he doesn't know everything, because a colleague told him he could use a smaller needle for trigger point injections. It made a huge difference for me, cut down the soreness from seven days to three days, and the intensity of the soreness is less. I have had Botox before in my neck, not for migraines though.
And very cold ice packs. Coldest ice packs I have found are from a company called accurate Manufacturing. The chiropractor that I used to see had his contact information printed on the ice pack. He gave me one ice pack for free and he sells more ice packs for five dollars each which one third the price of Amazon
You cannot buy the ice packs directly from accurate manufacturing because you're not a medical professional purchasing the ice packs in bulk to distribute as a way to market your practice. But you can buy it from Amazon or see if your local doctors offices or chiropractors sell it. It might be easiest to call the company and they can direct you to the nearest provider.
http://www.accurategelpacks.com
That's very odd that it made your four head winkle more. It's probably just a coincidence because it is in your toxin that paralyzes your muscles.it doesn't make them contract. it has the opposite effect of not being able to use the four head muscles , for example, you can't wrinkle your four head. Sorry for the typos. I use voice dictation and apparently it won't spell for head correctly. I know a lot about Botox because I've had it for its original purpose, paralyzing what it's injected into, I have spastic cerebral palsy. That's what Botox is typically used for, (and it has always been used for) severe spasticity. Cosmetic use of Botox and the use of Botox for migraines is relatively new.
Correction of the typo – it's probably just a coincidence because it is a neurotoxin that paralyzes your muscles.
Winkled, your four head may have winkled more, not lingered
To give you an idea of the cost difference between that and Botox, I live in Maryland. New patient E Val is $200. Follow-up sessions are $140 . And of course the therapist will teach you how to do myofascial release at home.
