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Botox Treatment

Shanker Dixit, MD -  - Neurology

Neurology Center of Las Vegas

Shanker Dixit, MD

Neurology located in Las Vegas, NV

Botox® is one of today’s most popular cosmetic treatments for eliminating facial wrinkles. However, it was first used as a medication to treat muscle spasms and is now approved to relieve several painful conditions. Shanker Dixit, MD, at Neurology Center of Las Vegas, offers Botox injections to treat chronic migraines and muscle spasticity. If you suffer from pain due to these conditions, schedule an appointment online or call the office in Las Vegas, Nevada, today.

Botox Treatment Q&A

What are Botox injections?

Botox is a purified form of botulinum toxin, a neurotoxin that stops nerves from releasing the neurotransmitters to trigger muscle movement. As a result, Botox injections temporarily relax muscles, an action that relieves pain caused by muscle cramps and spasms.

Botox also blocks the release of neurotransmitters that carry pain signals to the brain. You can’t feel the pain or the full extent of your pain when your brain doesn’t get the message.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Botox to treat:

  • Chronic migraines
  • Cervical dystonia
  • Severe underarm sweating
  • Strabismus
  • Blepharospasm
  • Upper and lower limb spasticity

After a medication is FDA approved, doctors can use it off-label, meaning they’re allowed to use it for other conditions if they consider it medically necessary. One of the off-label uses of Botox injections is relieving pain caused by neuromuscular conditions such as low back pain.

What should I know about chronic migraines?

Migraines are one of the most severe headaches you can experience. They cause intense pain that lasts at least four hours and may continue for several days. Along with the pain, you may also have symptoms like nausea and sensitivity to light and sounds.

While researchers continue to explore the underlying causes of migraines, they’re considered a neurological disorder. The headaches begin when something triggers a reaction in the trigeminal nerve. The nerve then releases chemicals that cause blood vessel swelling and pain.

How does Botox prevent chronic migraines?

Botox injections block the nerve signals, reducing the severity of your pain and preventing future migraines. However, Botox is only approved for chronic migraines. 

You have chronic migraines when you have 15 or more headache days a month, and on eight or more of those days, you have migraines that last at least four hours.

While your Botox procedure involves multiple injections, it only takes about 15 minutes for all of them. Then you need additional Botox injections — one every three months — to maintain your results.

How do Botox injections relieve pain due to muscle spasticity?

Muscle spasticity occurs when your muscles contract and stay that way without relaxing. As the muscles tighten, their stiffness interferes with your ability to move the affected arm or leg. 

You may also experience pain that becomes severe. Your Neurology Center of Las Vegas provider injects Botox into the muscle, where the neurotoxin stops the contraction and relaxes the muscle. 

Botox to relieve migraines and the pain of spasticity is available at Neurology Center of Las Vegas. To schedule an appointment, call the office or book online today.