Migraine headaches are known to cause pain that is often debilitating. Researchers conducting clinical trials on botulinum toxin type A to treat facial lines recognised a correlation between the shots and the alleviation of migraine symptoms.

The study

Christine C Kim, a private practitioner in Encino, California, and colleagues studied patients (average age 50.9 years) who had already received or were planning to receive botulinum injections for cosmetic purposes but also reported having migraines.

Of those, more than half reported imploding headaches, described by adjectives like crushing and vice-like, or ocular headaches, reported to feel like an eye is popping out or that someone is pushing a finger into an eye. Other patients had exploding headaches, described as feeling like one's head is going to explode or split, or that pressure is building up. Some patients had more than one type.

What they found

Three months after treatment, more than two thirds of the patients had responded to the treatment with a reduction in migraine pain, including those who had imploding or ocular headaches and those who had exploding headaches.

A third of the patients who did not respond had exploding headaches.

Pic: Bob Smith