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3 Things Botox Helps With [Other Than Treating Wrinkles]

By now, most people are aware of Botox and the awesome benefits it has in the cosmetic realm.

For those who don’t know, Botox is the only FDA-approved treatment to temporarily improve the appearance of both moderate to severe frown lines between the brows and crow’s feet in adults.

Read on to find out about three things Botox is good for–outside of treating those pesky wrinkles and frown lines.

3 Things Botox Is Good For

1. HYPERHIDROSIS

Constant, excessive sweating, also known as Hyperhidrosis, can be embarrassing. The physical discomfort of feeling damp all the time, the stained clothes—it’s no fun.

According to the International Hyperhidrosis Society, in 2004, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration approved Botox (onabotulinumtoxinA) for the treatment of severe primary axillary hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating of the underarms) in patients unable to obtain relief using antiperspirants.

When small doses of Botox are injected into the skin, they block nerves that supply the eccrine glands, which prevents the glands from producing sweat.

According to Mother Nature Network, the Botox injections are shallow—just below the surface of the skin—and have been shown to reduce underarm sweating by 82 to 87 percent. Results may last up to a year.

According to a report by WebMD, in 2007, a German woman whose right hand would sweat profusely to the point of dripping up to five times a day, received Botox injections in her hand for six months, and the excessive sweating stopped.

2. CHRONIC MIGRAINES

Botox for Migraine

Botox is injected to prevent headaches in adults with Chronic Migraine who have 15 or more days each month with headache lasting 4 or more hours each day in people 18 years or older.

The FDA approved Botox to treat chronic migraines in adults in 2010 and said the injections were shown to be effective at migraine prevention.

According to the Mayo Clinic, a migraine can cause severe throbbing pain or a pulsing sensation, usually on just one side of the head. It’s often accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and extreme sensitivity to light and sound.

“Chronic migraine is one of the most disabling forms of headache,” Russell Katz, M.D., director of the Division of Neurology Products in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in a press release.

“Patients with chronic migraine experience a headache more than 14 days of the month. This condition can greatly affect family, work, and social life, so it is important to have a variety of effective treatment options available.”

For chronic migraines, Botox is injected every 12 weeks around the head and neck.

But, according to Mother Nature Network, there is one caveat: It has not been shown to work for treating migraines that occur 14 days or less per month, or for other forms of headache.

3. STRABISMUS

Strabismus, which is also known as crossed eyes, causes the eyes to not properly align with each other and according to Allergan, treatment with Botox may help.

Botox is injected into muscles and used to treat certain types of eye muscle problems (strabismus) in people 12 years and older. Injections are repeated every 3 to 4 months, though after multiple treatments, the effects last a little longer.

With Strabismus, one eye may look straight ahead but the other may turn in (“crossed eyes”), out (“wall eyes”), upward, or downward. Strabismus can result in serious vision problems.

Botox has been used to change the position of the eyes since the 1970’s, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology.