How Can Botox Be Used to Manage Fibromyalgia?

“Botox injections have been touted as the new ‘miracle cure’ for fibromyalgia. There are reports of patients with fibromyalgia getting some relief of their tender points that lasts up to three to four months” [1]

So are you suffering from fibromyalgia, and you have read about the proven benefits of Botox injections provided by one of our Specialist Pain Doctors at the Harley Street London Pain Clinic? – And if this is the case, would you like to how these injectables can help your day to day living?

The answer to the aforementioned is that: Botox is now extensively used for medicinal intervention because it has been proven to block neuromuscular transmission. When your Pain Consultant

injects Botox in specific areas in small quantities, it generates the: “selective weakening and paralysis of muscles, thereby alleviating spasms and pain. Doctors have used it to treat the muscular rigidity in various medical conditions including myofascial pain syndrome. In fact, it was the successful use of Botox in some people with the latter that led doctors to try it for fibromyalgia” [1], with great success (see the research cited by National Library of Medicine further down).

 What to Expect With Your Botox Treatment For Fibromyalgia

 You Pain Doctor will advise you that it could take approximately 8 days for you to experience the results of your Botox injections. Furthermore, as we see here at the London Pain Clinic, our patients feel the most relief about three weeks in from the procedure. Moreover, your Botox injectables can be scheduled every three to four months. Note: it is important to be mindful that if you have Botox injections more frequently, then there is a possibility that you could develop immunity, so to that end, we ensure that the scheduling is inline with optimum health benefits.

How Botox Helps Fibromyalgia Patients

Botox injections are being utilised increasingly more for the optimum management of long-term pain. Research backs up: “the hypothesis of a direct analgesic effect of Botox, different to that exerted on muscle. Although the pain-reducing effect of Botox is mainly due to its ability to block acetylcholine release at the synapse, other effects on the nervous system are also thought to be involved. Botox affects cholinergic transmission in both the somatic and the autonomic nervous systems” [2]. Note: as your Pain Doctor will explain to you: a synapse refers to the space between the end of a nerve cell and another cell. Generally speaking, impulses from our nerves are transported to the neighbouring cell via neurotransmitters (chemicals). The latter are then  discharged by the nerve cell and taken up by another cell on the other side of the synapse. The neighbouring cell could be: a muscle cell, a gland cell or a nerve cell.

What the Research Says About Botox For Fibromyalgia

Botox impacts cholinergic transmission in (a): the somatic nervous system, which is responsible for conscious perception and the voluntary movement of skeletal muscles; and (b): the autonomic nervous system, which is responsible for involuntary control of the body, including glandular secretions, maintaining organ systems and reflex movement of skeletal muscles [2].

Mechanisms of Botox for the pain relief of fibromyalgia pain, incorporate: “direct action on muscle and indirect effects via action at the neuromuscular junction. In vitro [in the laboratory outside the body] and in vivo [inside the living body] data have shown that Botox has specific anti-nociceptive activity relating to its effects on inflammation, axonal transport, ganglion inhibition, and spinal and suprasegmental level inhibition” [2], thus providing pain relief for many fibromyalgia sufferers.

References

[1]. Arthritis.org Drug Guide (2025). “Botox Injections for Fibromyalgia?”]

https://www.arthritis.org/drug-guide/medication-topics/botox-injections-for-fibromyalgia

[2]. Casale, R, Tugnoli, V. Drugs R D. 2012 Oct 23;9(1):11–27.

“Botulinum Toxin for Pain,” as cited by National Library of Medicine