We’ve certainly seen an increase in the number of people who have used Botox in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney in the last couple of years. Well, that’s obvious if you go to Icebergs or Catalina’s I guess. But what we’re talking about today is the use of Botox for things like Migraines, TMJ disorders, and things like neck or back pain.
Apart from making your neck pain look more youthful, does it work?
We found a research paper which summarised the results of 9 different studies on this topic to get an overall picture.
What were the results?
Regarding Neck Pain:
“High quality evidence suggests there was little or no difference in pain between BoNT-A and saline injections at four weeks…and six months for chronic neck pain.
Regarding using Botox combined with Exercises compared to standard painkillers:
“Very low quality evidence indicated little or no difference in pain between BoNT-A combined with exercise and analgesics with exercise for patients with chronic neck pain at four weeks and six months”
Comparing injecting Botox with injecting a placebo for headaches:
“Very low quality evidence from one trial (32 participants) showed little or no difference between BoNT-A and placebo at four weeks for chronic cervicogenic headache.
Authors’ conclusions?
Current evidence fails to confirm either a clinically important or a statistically significant benefit of BoNT-A injection for chronic neck pain associated with or without associated cervicogenic headache. Likewise, there was no benefit seen for disability and quality of life at four week and six months.
To read the full study click here https://www.academia.edu/26002187/Botulinum_Toxin_for_Subacute_Chronic_Neck_Pain?email_work_card=title
