A new treatment trialled at Cumberland Infirmary to treat chronic migraine and headache sufferers using Botox has had remarkable results.
Botox injections are normally associated with celebrities wanting to look younger, but now doctors at the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle are using them to pioneer the treatment of people with chronic migraines or severe headaches.
They have already transformed the life of one man who was severely injured in an axe attack.
There are some flashing images in Tim Backshall's report below.
Botox injections are normally associated with celebrities wanting to look younger - but now doctors at the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle are using them to pioneer the treatment of people with chronic migraines or severe headaches.
The treatment has transformed the life of one man who was severely injuried in an axe attack.
A warning - you may find some of the images in Tim Backshall's report below upsetting.
Botox injections are normally associated with celebrities wanting to look younger. But now doctors at the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle are using them to pioneer the treatment of people with chronic migraines or severe headaches.
Six patients, who've had the injections, appear to have had dramatic improvements in their health. Steven Howes, from Fletchertown in North Cumbria suffered horrific head injuries in an unprovoked axe attack in Sunderland on Christmas Eve 1998 and has suffered severe headaches ever since.
He now undergoes 30 to 40 Botox injections every 12 weeks and says it has transformed his life. He now suffers very little from headaches and is able to carry on a normal life again. Describing his treatment Steven said:
– Migraine sufferer, Steven Howes"It's uncomfortable but more than bearable. I'm just so pleased to be able to get this treatment on the NHS, it's amazing. I've applied to train to be a primary school teacher from September, which is something I just wouldn't have been able to do before. This has given me the confidence to go for it."
– Yogendra Jagatsinh, consultantHis consultant, Yogendra Jagatsinh, says: "Steven is a real success story - he is a completely changed man. We had tried him with so many different tablets but none of them worked."
A new treatment for chronic migraines and headaches has been trialled at Cumberland Infirmary, with astonishing results.
Yogendra Jagatsinh began treating patients last summer using botox, after it was approved for use on the NHS.
He said that the six patients he has treated so far have all shown dramatic improvements.