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Migraine Surgery
1/26/2003 6:25 AM
By: Claudine Chalfant & Web Staff
How would you like to get rid of migraines and wrinkles all in one shot? It's not Botox, but it does hit you right between the eyes. Take it from a migraine patient who just had the surgery.
When Paula Burnetta-Carter has migraines, they're whoppers! Splitting headaches so sickening, they make her sick and she has them every day, or at least she used to.
"Since my surgery, I have not had any migraines at all and it's been a week and a half,” Paula said.
In surgery, doctors removed Paula's corrugator supercilii, a big name for the little muscles above the eye, the ones you use to frown.
"It's felt they're pinching the nerves in the forehead right there and triggering the migraine,” said plastic surgeon Dr. John Moore.
Dr. John Moore, who performed the surgery as part of a nationwide study, explains the procedure.
"The incision is made, if you close your eyes right there, just in the normal crease of the eyelid right here. From that, close your eyes again, go up underneath the eyebrow here, the muscle comes in right across the eyebrow in this area right through here."
Fifty to 80 percent of that muscle is cut out, while the surrounding nerves are preserved.
"It'll feel completely numb for about two to three months and then in the studies we've done, that feeling comes back somewhere between three months and six months,” continued Dr. Moore.
Some migraine patients are better candidates for the surgery than others.
According to Dr. Moore, "80% of the people who responded to Botox got relief from the surgery with their migraines.”
Half of them got rid of their headaches completely - and their frown lines!
"You get rid of wrinkles also, so it's an added attraction,” said Dr. Moore.
Paula's just happy to get rid of the pain. “I mean going two or three hours without a migraine is almost like, remarkable, but now going this many days is just, I'm thrilled."
Removing the frown muscle is nothing new when it comes to face lifts. However, it's the first time the procedure's been used to treat migraines. Some insurance companies are paying for the headache surgery. Without insurance, the procedure costs about $2500. Interested patients should call a board certified plastic surgeon for more information.
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