THE ALTERNATIVE USES OF BOTOX By
Chloe Palumbo Riley Hurr
Often accompanied by the glitz and glam of the red carpet, Botox has emerged as a staple of the cosmetic world with its powerful skin wrinkling reduction formula. Produced from a protein generated by Botulinum toxin which is generated from the bacterium Clostridium botulinum, Botox is a type of injectable neurotoxin that weakens muscles by inhibiting nerve signals responsible for muscle contraction. While small doses of Botox are most commonly reserved for cosmetic purposes, in the past decade Botox has recently made a breakthrough in its wide array of medicinal applications. One of the most groundbreaking medicinal applications of Botox is treating chronic migraines. This breakthrough was first discovered when Dr. William Binder noticed that his patients reported fewer migraines after receiving Botox injections.
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Following this observation, the pharmaceutical company Allergan explored these findings by conducting further studies which yielded promising empirical results, eventually leading to FDA approval of Botox in treating chronic migraines in 2010. While the mechanism through which Botox reduces chronic migraines is still unknown, it has been speculated that the injection of Botulinum neurotoxin inhibits the release of neurotransmitters, specifically those involved in pain production, including substance P and calcitonin gene-related peptides (CGRP). By inhibiting neurotransmitter release, neurotransmitters involved in pain production are prevented from traveling to the nerve endings to generate a pain response. Specific Botulinum toxin treatment consists of several injections once every three months in the head
and neck area where pain fibers responsible for headache production are located. While serious side effects outside of mild neck pain and headaches are rare, standard treatments are typically considered before Botox injections due to the high frequency of Botox injections required. Nevertheless, Botox has proven to be a beneficial, safe, and effective treatment for chronic migraines and is being administered across a plethora of headache centers across the United States. In addition to treating chronic migraines, Botox has been proven to be effective in combating excessive sweating, a condition known as hyperhidrosis. Once Allergan observed that patients who received Botox injections for facial spasms were sweating less, scientists began to study whether patients with severe primary axillary hyperhidrosis–a rare disorder characterized by
