Frequent headaches have a way of quietly reshaping your life before you realize how much ground you’ve given up. If you’ve reached the point where headaches are a regular disruption rather than an occasional one, preventive treatment may be worth exploring.
At Advanced Pain Management Center in Portland, Oregon, interventional pain management specialist Vladimir Fiks, MD, offers Botox® injections as a preventive treatment for chronic migraine, one of the few FDA-approved options specifically designed to reduce how often debilitating headaches occur.
A migraine is a neurological event involving abnormal brain activity that produces throbbing pain, nausea, and sensitivity to light and sound. For people with chronic migraine, defined as 15 or more headache days per month with at least eight meeting migraine criteria, the condition interferes with work, sleep, and daily life in ways that compound over time.
Preventive treatment exists for this reason. Rather than treating each migraine after it starts, the goal is to reduce how frequently they occur and how severe they are when they do.
Botox injections block the release of certain chemicals involved in pain transmission, interrupting the process before a migraine can fully develop.
Dr. Fiks injects small amounts of Botox into specific sites around your head and neck, including the forehead, temples, back of the head, neck, and upper shoulders. The injections target the nerve pathways involved in migraine, not just the muscles in the area.
Treatment takes about 15 to 20 minutes, with repeat injections every 12 weeks, with most patients needing 2-3 rounds before experiencing the full benefit.
Botox is FDA-approved specifically for chronic migraine prevention. It’s worth discussing with Dr. Fiks if you:
Botox is not indicated for episodic migraine, tension headaches, or cluster headaches. Dr. Fiks evaluates your headache history carefully before recommending it to make sure it fits your specific pattern.
Each session typically involves injections at 31 sites across seven muscle areas of your head and neck. The needles are small and the process is quick, though some patients notice mild soreness at the injection sites for a day or two afterward. There’s no downtime, and you can return to your normal routine the same day.
Results build over time. Dr. Fiks tracks your headache frequency between sessions to assess how well the treatment is working and adjust as needed.
Chronic migraine is underdiagnosed and undertreated in part because many people assume frequent headaches are something to push through rather than a condition that responds to medical care. Getting an accurate diagnosis is the first step toward relief.
If your headaches are frequent and disruptive enough that you find yourself planning around them, call Advanced Pain Management Center in Portland at 503-295-0730 or schedule a consultation online to find out what preventive options make sense for your situation.
