If you suffer from chronic migraine headaches, it's certain you've tried a variety of treatments and medications to prevent and alleviate the pain. Although Botox is primarily used as a beauty enhancement product, it also has medicinal benefits. Specifically, Botox has been shown to help reduce the frequency of migraines. Here's more information about this development.

Using Botox to Treat Migraines

When used to treat migraines, Botox is injected directly into seven specific sites on the head and neck: the forehead, over the ears, in the back of the head, above the nape of the neck, and along the top of the shoulders. In total, the entire treatment takes about 31 injections to complete and must be repeated about every 12 weeks.

If you keep to the recommended dosage schedule, the results should last about 3 months. Of course, each person is different, so the migraine muting effects of Botox may cut off sooner or last longer for you.

The Efficacy of Treatment

Clinical trials looking into the effectiveness of Botox on migraines found it reduced the onset of headaches a total of 9 days a month. However, people who were given a placebo reported experiencing 7 less migraine headaches per month. This matches up with later studies conducted on the efficacy of Botox for migraine relief that found the drug prevented 2-3 migraines from happening each month.

Considering how debilitating migraine headaches can be, even this small reduction can be enough to help sufferers squeeze a little more enjoyment out of life.

Cost of Treatments

Each treatment can use anywhere from 75 to 200 units of Botox. Depending on who administers the treatments and where you reside, it can cost between $9 and $17 per unit. This means you can expect to spend as little as $675 or as much as $3,400 per treatment. However, many professionals who administer these treatments charge on a per-site or per-problem basis, so the actual cost may be less.

Botox is generally considered a cosmetic procedure and insurance companies typically do not pay for those. Your insurance company may make an exception, though, since the product is being used to treat a medical problem. Prior to making an appointment with a healthcare professional to have Botox injected, contact your insurance company to determine if your policy covers the procedure.

To learn more about how Botox can help you with your chronic migraines, contact a doctor like Hass Plastic Surgery.