Botox Scottsdale
However, you may be surprised to learn that this isn’t the only medical use of botox. Doctors actually use botox for a variety of other medical conditions as well. Here are four uses for botox that go beyond its use in cosmetic medicine. All of these uses are FDA-approved, meaning that scientific research has demonstrated that the treatment is effective for the condition.
Migraines
If you’ve ever suffered from migraines, then you know how excruciating they can be. Unfortunately, many migraine prevention options can have significant side effects, and they don’t work for everyone. Botox is an alternative that has been shown to help some patients who suffer from chronic migraines. The medication is injected into specific muscles in the neck. It’s believed that in some people, tension in these muscles triggers activation in the nervous system, leading to a migraine. Relaxing these muscles with botox can help to prevent this from happening, which in turn helps to prevent migraines.
Hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating)
Although it’s not common, hyperhidrosis can be a debilitating condition. It causes people to sweat excessively, even when they aren’t feeling hot. There are few treatments for this condition. However, when injected into the affected area, botox is able to block the chemical that produces sweating, helping those who suffer from hyperhidrosis.
Strabismus (eye misalignment)
There are several muscles around each eye, each of which pulls the eye in a particular direction. In some people, one of the eye muscles contracts too much, pulling one eye out of alignment with the other. There are a variety of treatments for this condition, but in certain patients, it may help to inject the overactive eye muscle with botox in order to relax it. This treatment is often used along with vision therapy, in order to retrain the nervous system to focus the eyes evenly.
Overactive bladder
When the bladder reaches a certain fullness, then the muscles that make up the bladder wall are reflexively stimulated to contract. This is what generates that feeling of urgency to get to the bathroom. The bladder isn’t literally about to burst; instead, that feeling is a function of the bladder muscle contracting. In some people, the bladder receives this signal to contract when it’s barely full. This is why certain people have the feeling of needing to urinate very often. When this happens so often that it’s disruptive to daily life, then it’s called overactive bladder, and it’s useful to treat it. Although medications are useful to many people with this condition, for those who are not helped by the meds, botox injections can help.
Botox Scottsdale
These are not the only uses for botox. Many doctors also use botox in a variety of “off-label” ways. This means the medication has not been proven to be effective for that specific condition, although it is approved for other uses. Doctors are permitted to use medication in off-label ways, when they have reason to believe that the drug may be effective for that patient.
Botox is also FDA-approved for use as a cosmetic, for the treatment of wrinkles in the facial skin. Even though we would be permitted to use it off-label without such approval, it may bring you comfort to know that the FDA has concluded that there is enough high-quality research available to show that botox is effective when used in this way.
