Just about everyone experiences a headache at some point in their life, but a migraine isn’t a short-lived annoyance; it’s an often chronic and debilitating condition that affects 37 million adults in the U.S. — and, surprisingly, an estimated 5 million children, too.There are few treatments available for migraine sufferers under 18, but a small study has found that Botox, which is already used to help adults with excruciating headaches, may also relieve pain in kids. 
              Migraine symptoms often begin with throbbing head pain on one side of the head, but can affect both sides in children. Nausea, vomiting, dizziness, blurred vision, sensitivity to light and sound, and changes in temperament and personality can also occur.About 20 percent of migraine sufferers, including children, also experience pre-headache symptoms, or auras, that often start an hour or so before a headache. Doctors are unsure why.

 How long an episode lasts varies from individual to individual but, unlike adult migraines, which can carry on for up to four days, a child’s migraine generally varies between one hour and one day."It felt like somebody was punching me inside my head."Children who get regular migraines don’t have many options beyond over-the-counter painkillers and some anti-seizure medications, the latter of which can be extremely hazardous. Children improve more readily with sleep so the best treatment is a nap in a quiet, dark room, but many simply suffer through the pain."These children are not going to school, they're not functioning, and they’re falling behind," said Dr. Shalini Shah, chief of pain medicine and director of pain services at UC Irvine Health. “So I decided to try Botox — my first patient did remarkably well so I started doing it more and more.” 
 
           Botox, the brand name for botulinum toxin, is most popular for smoothing wrinkles, but is also FDA approved to treat a wide variety of conditions, including excessive sweating, overactive bladder, and migraine headaches in adults. In a new small pilot study, University of California, Irvine researchers led by Shah, found that Botox could ease migraines for kids and teens.

           Kids and teens receiving Botox injections every 12 weeks over a five-year period had improvements in their frequency, duration and intensity of migraines. The participants in the study were between the ages of 8 and 17 with chronic migraines — defined as 15 migraines per month or having experienced migraines eight to 30 days a month.After the treatment period, the kids reported that their symptoms were not as painful, as well as a decrease in symptoms, from two to 10 days a month, and reduced length of episodes from 7-24 hours to 15-30 minutes. In order for the treatment to be effective, the children needed 31 injections in different spots along the head and neck.