Does A Negative Botox Result Mean That Migraine Surgery Will Not Work?

Q: Dr. Eppley, I received Botox injections for migraine headaches once and they did not give me relief, If the injections did not give me relief…then would migraine surgery not give me relief as well?

A: Botox is usually used as an indicator of success for the actual migraine surgery. When the Botox test is positive, there usually is a near 100% success with surgery. But when the Botox test is not positive, I have seen a few patients still have success with surgery. The other questions is how and where were the Botox injections done. I have seen quite a few patients who have had Botox for migraines where the injections were not done properly. As a result they had a negative test when, in fact, it might have been a positive test result if the injections were properly placed near the nerves.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana