Migraine patients find relief through Botox injections

WSFA/NBC - Typically when you think of Botox you only think of it as a treatment for more youthful skin. Well, not anymore. Botox injections are now being used as a treatment for chronic migraines.

When patients found out Botox was an option, many were skeptical.

Cassandra Robertson said, "I was very skeptical at first. I thought you know Botox for headaches. I mean, you know the migraines has to do with the blood vessels and stuff in the brain and I thought how does injecting Botox into muscles help with migraines."

The key is to prevent migraines before they start and Botox may be the answer.

Dr. Mica Newman-Koehn at St. Francis Family Medicine in Topeka, Kansas explained, "Basically what the Botox does is it weakens the muscles that give the intense part of the headaches. And so it's a series of very small injections with very, um, very superficial just under the skin into the superficial muscles that cause those muscles to weaken for about three months and it significantly decreases the number of headaches that people have a day and decreases the severity of the migraines that they have."

Botox is only for adults with chronic migraines who have fifteen or more days each month with headaches lasting four or more hours each day.

The Botox injections are twelve weeks apart, each lasting fifteen minutes. This type of treatment is affordable as most insurance plans will cover the majority of the costs.

Copyright 2017 WSFA 12 News/NBC. All rights reserved.