I have explained the details of migraine surgery that patients often ask about — who is suitable, whether there is an age limit, and what the recovery process looks like — in the videos section of our website. If you watch these videos carefully, you will learn a great deal of essential information.
Also in the late 1990s, it was noticed that Botox (onabotulinumtoxinA) produced effects similar to surgery. Botox works by relaxing the mimetic muscles; just as in endoscopic forehead surgery, "temporarily" relaxing the muscles that press on the cranial nerves has produced successful outcomes in patients with chronic, treatment-resistant migraine. Since the FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) approved Botox for this use in 2010, it is now widely used as a preventive treatment.
In principle, Botox and migraine surgery work in a similar way. The difference is that Botox's effect is temporary, requiring 3 to 4 treatments per year. In a sense, Botox serves as a kind of confirmation or proof of what surgery can achieve. For this reason, a Botox trial can help determine in some patients whether they are likely to benefit from surgery. This trial is different from aesthetic Botox applications and is used for diagnostic purposes.
Migraine surgery is performed under minimally invasive, minimally traumatic conditions. This means the incisions are very small, yet the effect of the procedure is significant. Unlike medication, migraine surgery has no side effects and works in harmony with the body's anatomy and physiology; in my view, it is among the most important discoveries of the 2000s, and major advances continue to be made in this field.
Of course, only those who have lived with chronic headaches and migraine can truly understand this burden. Migraine surgery makes it possible to give patients their quality of life back, and to help them reclaim the years they had lost to the condition.
The greatest advantage of migraine surgery is the rapid recovery it allows thanks to very small incisions. For example, temporal and frontal migraine can be treated endoscopically through incisions hidden in the hair. Frontal migraine can also be treated through an upper eyelid crease incision, with success rates reported as high as 90% for this area.
