Migraines are a debilitating neurological condition that causes severe headaches and other symptoms like nausea, sensitivity to light and sound, and fatigue. Over 37 million Americans suffer from migraines, and that number is disproportionately represented by women. According to a National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) in 2018, 20.1% of adults had experienced a severe or migraine headache within the last three months.
While there are many treatments available, migraine injections are becoming an increasingly popular option for both preventing and treating migraine episodes. At NW Regen, we offer migraine injections as part of our comprehensive approach to naturally healing pain and injury. But what exactly are they?
What are migraine injections?
Migraine injections deliver medication directly into the body to stop migraine attacks and prevent future episodes. There are two main types:
Preventive injections: Given on a regular schedule, these aim to reduce the frequency and severity of migraine episodes. They include medications that block CGRP, a molecule involved in migraine, as well as botulinum toxin.
Abortive injections: These treat acute migraine episodes as they occur. The medications sumatriptan and dihydroergotamine are injected to provide fast relief.
How do migraine injections work?
CGRP preventive medications work by blocking CGRP receptors or the CGRP molecule itself. This prevents it from widening blood vessels and transmitting migraine pain signals.
Botox prevents migraine by blocking neurotransmitters that relay migraine signals. It also reduces inflammation.
The acute medications sumatriptan and DHE constrict blood vessels to counteract the dilation that occurs during migraine. This decreases inflammation and blocks pain signaling.
Benefits of migraine injections
- Provide sustained migraine prevention with regular use. When taken regularly as prescribed, preventive migraine injections can provide sustained relief by significantly reducing the frequency and severity of migraine attacks over months and years of treatment.
- Offer quick relief for acute migraine episodes. Abortive or acute migraine injections quickly stop a migraine attack that has already started, bringing fast relief when it is needed most.
- Are highly targeted to migraine mechanisms. Both types of migraine injections are highly targeted to the biological mechanisms underlying migraine, unlike some traditional oral migraine medications that were originally developed to treat other conditions.
- Have minimal side effects compared to other treatments. Their precision targeting of migraine pathways means migraine injections tend to have minimal side effects in most people.
- Can be self-administered at home for convenience. Many of the latest preventive anti-CGRP injections can be easily self-administered at home, offering convenience and avoiding the need for frequent doctor’s office visits.
Treatment Options with NW Regen
At NW Regen, we offer migraine injections as part of our integrative pain treatment plans. Alongside nerve blocks, trigger point injections, PRP therapy, and other regenerative treatments, injections can both stop acute migraine and prevent future episodes. This comprehensive approach provides natural migraine relief.
Schedule a consultation with us today to learn more and see if migraine injections could be right for you. We look forward to helping you find lasting freedom from migraine pain. Request an appointment.
Dr. Ryan Wood is a licensed Naturopathic and Chiropractic physician focusing on interventional orthopedic and orthobiologic medicine and injection therapies as well as general musculoskeletal and non-surgical orthopedic medicine.
With almost two decades of orthopedic practice across multiple disciplines, he has the necessary experience to ensure proper diagnoses and management of complex cases.
