Botox for Migraines
Fewer headache days. More of your own.
How many days a month do you lose to headaches? If the answer is 15 or more, you already know what it costs: the plans cancelled, the dark rooms, the work you push through in pain. Small, precise injections of Botox® by Allergan may give some of those days back.
At a glance
If chronic migraines keep taking days from you, preventive Botox® may help you have fewer of them.
- First change
- Sometimes two to four weeks
- Full response
- Two or three cycles to see whether it helps
- Lasts
- About 12 weeks
- Downtime
- Minimal
- Consultation
- Complimentary
- Available at
- Legian Ubud Canggu
Is this for you?
It may be worth a conversation if you…
- Have headaches on 15 or more days a month
- Have migraine on at least eight of those days
- Get headaches that last four hours or longer
- Are an adult diagnosed with chronic migraine
- Have tried other treatments without enough control
Before you book: please tell your doctor about any neuromuscular condition, any allergy, or trouble swallowing or breathing.
How it works: the aim is fewer headache days
Botox® is placed in specific muscles around the head and neck. There it temporarily interrupts the release of chemicals involved in pain signalling, so fewer signals may reach the nerves behind an attack.
It is a preventive treatment, not a rescue. It cannot stop a migraine that has already begun.
Your doctor starts by counting. Using your headache diary or a migraine questionnaire, they establish how many headache and migraine days you really have. If the recognised protocol is right for you, treatment is 155 units across 31 injection sites.
Where it can be used
Forehead, Between the eyebrows, Temples, Back of the head, Upper neck, Neck and upper shoulders
What to expect
- Week 2 to 4
Some people begin to notice a difference.
- Two or three cycles
Others need this long before the change shows in their diary. Your doctor will review it with you.
- Every 12 weeks
If it helps, treatment is repeated at this interval.
Botox is not a cure. Tenderness, redness, swelling or bruising, a stiff neck, a headache or some muscle weakness can follow, and pass. Results vary, and your doctor will tell you what to expect for your own headaches.
Before and after photographs coming soon
Your visit, step by step
Before
- Keep a headache diary of days, symptoms, duration, triggers and medication, before and after treatment
- Bring any medical reports, and mention past migraine treatments, supplements, muscle relaxants and injected antibiotics
- Tell your doctor what else you take, including blood thinners and aspirin
- Mention any botulinum toxin or filler in the last four months
- Skip alcohol the day before, as it can increase bruising
- Arrive with clean skin and little makeup on the area
The day
The injections are quick, but the assessment before them takes time. Using a fine needle and usually no anaesthetic, your doctor works from your forehead to your upper shoulders, one brief pinprick at a time. Keep your head upright for several hours afterwards.
Your doctors
Every injection here is given by one of our eight doctors.
Aftercare
- Do not rub, press or massage the treated area for the rest of the day
- Avoid strenuous exercise, saunas, steam rooms and intense heat for 24 to 48 hours
- Wait on facials and facial massage until your doctor says it is fine
- Contact us if anything unexpected develops
Botox treatments, side by side
- First change
- After one to two days
- Lasts
- Up to four months
- First change
- Less jaw tension in one to two weeks
- Lasts
- Three to six months
- First change
- Within several days
- Lasts
- About four to six months
- First change
- Sometimes two to four weeks
- Lasts
- About 12 weeks
Questions people ask
Botox® is placed in specific muscles around the head and neck. There it temporarily interrupts the release of chemicals involved in pain signalling, so fewer signals may reach the nerves behind an attack. The aim is fewer headache days.
No. It is a preventive treatment and cannot stop an attack in progress.
Botox may be worth discussing if you are an adult diagnosed with chronic migraine, with:
- headaches on 15 or more days a month
- migraine on at least eight of those days
- headaches lasting four hours or longer
- other treatments tried without enough control
Your doctor will assess this at your consultation.
It means having headaches on 15 or more days a month, with migraine on at least eight of those days. Your doctor counts your headache and migraine days from your headache diary or a migraine questionnaire.
If the recognised protocol is right for you, treatment is 155 units across 31 injection sites. Your doctor works from your forehead to your upper shoulders.
The forehead, between the eyebrows, the temples, the back of the head, the upper neck, and the neck and upper shoulders.
Your doctor uses a fine needle, usually with no anaesthetic, and each injection is a brief pinprick. The injections themselves are quick.
The injections are quick, but the assessment beforehand takes time. Migraine care deserves it, so your doctor does not rush that part.
Some people notice an improvement within two to four weeks. Others need two or three cycles before it shows in their diary. Your doctor will review your progress with you.
About 12 weeks. If it helps, treatment is repeated every 12 weeks.
No. Results vary, and your doctor will tell you what to expect for your own headaches.
Tenderness, redness, swelling or bruising, a stiff neck, a headache or some muscle weakness can follow, and pass. Contact us if anything unexpected develops.
Minimal. Keep your head upright for several hours afterwards, and avoid strenuous exercise, saunas, steam rooms and intense heat for 24 to 48 hours.
Keep a headache diary of days, symptoms, duration, triggers and medication, before and after treatment. Bring any medical reports, and mention past migraine treatments, supplements, muscle relaxants, injected antibiotics, blood thinners and aspirin.
Skip alcohol the day before. The full checklist is in the section above.
Please tell your doctor before booking about any neuromuscular condition, any allergy, or trouble swallowing or breathing.
At Cocoon Medical Spa in Legian, Ubud and Canggu. Your consultation always comes first, with your doctor, before anything is booked.
Start by counting your headache days.
Bring your diary, or begin one today. Your doctor will review it with you and tell you honestly whether Botox is likely to help.