Botox is being increasingly used for off-label treatments, particularly in the treatment of migraine headaches and occipital neuralgia like we do at Migraine Surgery Specialty Center. This is a nice little video from the Plastic Surgery Channel that discusses some off-label uses of Botox.
But what does “off label” mean? When something like Botox is “approved” by the Food and Drug administration, it is often done so with very specific indications and methods. This enables physicians to use Botox in the “approved” manner and restricts the way the company who produces Botox can discuss it’s use. I does NOT restrict the way Botox can be used, however. In the case of migraine headache treatment, for example, Botox has been approved to be used by performing 31 injections in the head and neck. This is the manner in which many neurologists and other physicians perform Botox injection with much success. In those patients who don’t have relief from their migraine headache symptoms with this approach, we can utilize a targeted injection with only a few injections to the nerves that often cause headaches, and often will be able to successfully alleviate headache pain with this “off label” use of Botox.
If you are interested in directed Botox therapy and/or migraine headache surgery, and particularly if you are in the Los Angeles area, please call us at our headache Center at 805-969-9004 so we can look into relieving your migraine headache pain.
