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How to be Safe with Botox (10 tips)

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Although many people are injected with Botox (onabotulinumtoxinA) (botulinum toxin type A) and they never have any significant problems, there have been cases of severe health issues.  

Botox for Migraine Safety
  1. Only receive injections from a professional trained and experienced in using Botox for migraine.  Many problems can be solved simply by visiting someone who knows what they’re doing.
  2. Be sure the doctor knows your medical history.  This includes your experience with migraine, any previous Botox treatments, previous surgeries, any medications you take (including sleeping pills, allergy medication, blood thinners, antibiotics and muscle relaxants) etc.
  3. If you have infection, muscle weakness, or inflammation where you’re going to be injected – wait for another day.
  4. Tell your doctor if you have experienced any side effects from a previous treatment.
  5. Check the ingredients – if you have an allergy to any ingredients in the injections, don’t have the treatment.
  6. Do not start any new medications without telling your doctor that you’ve had Botox treatments in the past.
  7. After the treatment, tell your doctor immediately if you’re experiencing any of these side effects:  itching or rashes, trouble breathing, trouble swallowing, drooping eyelids or drainage from your eyes, vision problems (double vision or blurred vision), heart problems or chest pain, muscle weakness or paralysis, loss of bladder control, trouble talking or hoarse voice.  Note that some of these symptoms could appear several weeks after your treatment.
  8. If you are pregnant, trying to get pregnant, or breastfeeding, discuss the risks with your doctor.
  9. Be aware that Botox could cause migraine-related symptoms.  These include headache, fatigue, anxiety, and pain in other parts of the body.  Hopefully you won’t experience these symptoms.  However, do discuss the pros and cons with an experienced doctor before starting treatment.
  10. Botox should not be the first treatment you try for chronic migraine.  Look at other options first – not only medications, but also non-drug treatments.  If your doctor recommends Botox treatment when you’ve first been diagnosed, get suspicious and seek a second opinion

Please remember that these are not reasons why no one should ever try a Botox treatment.  As with just about any treatment for migraine, there are pros and cons.  Being aware of them helps you to have the safest and best options without making things worse.

For more, read about Botox headache injections here.
See what Allergan (the makers of Botox) has to say about Botox safety

Stick it in your ear! (A new “natural” migraine treatment)

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Dr. David Sullivan is a chiropractic neurologist who has been testing (with success) a new drug-free treatment for migraine pain.

There are a lot of treatments out there that are just emerging.  Although they have been documented, and have gone through (and are going through) clinical trials, they’re not widely known.  This unusual treatment, with a newly published clinical trial, is far from mainstream but still worth taking a look at.

The treatment involves stimulating the ear drum.  That may sound strange, until you remember the web of chain reactions that include your brain, chemicals throughout the body, blood vessels and nerves.

The treatment is given as an abortive, but along with a treatment program Dr. Sullivan’s patients are seeing significant improvement.

The video below gives a bit of a demonstration.  To participate in the continuing trials of this treatment, read more here:  Keystone Chiropractic Neurology Announces a Clinical Trial for Migraine Headaches

abc27 WHTM

via Mechanicsburg doctor’s migraine therapy published

20 minutes a day with an anti-migraine device…

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It’s the latest migraine gadget that everyone is talking about.  It’s the Cefaly Anti-migraine Device!

The Cefaly device is another application of neuro stimulation technology.  Specifically, it’s transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS), which delivers an AC electrical pulse to the supraorbital nerve.

How do you use it?  In this case, the device is used as a preventative.  It’s placed on your forehead for a few minutes each day.

A study published this month in the journal Neurology tried the device or a placebo (sham device) on 67 patients.  The patients who used the real Cefaly device (group 1 below) showed a significant decrease in “migraine days” each month:

Cefaly Trial: Migraine Days per Month

Now that may not look like a major improvement, but it did mean a decrease of 30%.  And that’s an average – some saw a much greater improvement (38% had a drop of 50% in migraine days or more).

Cefaly device

Convenient?  The device has been compared to the visor worn by Geordi La Forge in Star Trek the Next Generation.  I must protest – it looks more like the crown of an alien princess.  It’s a band that goes on the forehead – small, easy to use, and drug-free.

Currently it comes with a significant price tag – US$368 on amazon, and $239.99 at Costco in Canada, for example.  This will certainly keep a lot of people from giving it a try.

On the other hand, the initial results are encouraging for a device that’s non-invasive and not likely to give you the side effects that drugs would.  If it works for you, several more pain-free days each month would probably be worth the cost.

But it is good news to see more of these devices being tested and hitting the market, because we’re learning more and more about what works best and for whom.

Study:  Migraine prevention with a supraorbital transcutaneous stimulator
Cefaly website (international)
Cefaly Canada website

Sex Headaches

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Orgasm headaches or sex headaches are technically called primary headache associated with sexual activity.  But that should only be after careful tests are done – as soon after the headache as possible – to rule out more serious (in rare cases life-threatening) causes.

This graphic is a reminder to see a doctor right away, and that treatments are available.  Read more about orgasm headache here.

Sex headaches

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The articles on Headache and Migraine News are © 2004-2026 J. Cottrill.
Every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of each article, and to point you to further sources of information. However, this site is for informational purposes only and should never replace a visit to your doctor.