Botulinum Toxin Therapy

What Is Botulinum Toxin Therapy?

Botox®/Dysport®/Myobloc®/Xeomin® are highly purified, naturally occurring proteins that have the ability to very precisely relax muscles that are causing pain and spasm.

How Does Botulinum Toxin Work?

Botox®/Dysport®/Myobloc®/Xeomin® block the chemical signal from the nerve endings that produce muscle contraction and muscle spasm.

How Is It Administered?

Botulinum Toxin is administered as an injection into the muscle.

How Long Can I Be Treated With Botulinum Toxin?

Botulinum Toxin has been used to treat more than one million patients worldwide. No formal, long-term clinical evaluations have been conducted, but it’s safety in long-term use has been well established.

Will My Insurance Pay for Botulinum Toxin Therapy?

Most insurance companies including Medicare and Medicaid cover Botox®/Dysport®/Myobloc®/Xeomin® for medically necessary reasons. Pre-authorization is needed which can commonly take up to eight weeks. Insurance may not pay for treatment of certain off-label diagnoses not considered medically necessary.

How are Botulinum Toxins Used?

Botox® was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1989 for the treatment of strabismus (lazy eye) and blepharospasm (uncontrolled eye blinking).

Since that time it has also been approved for cervical dystonia (torticollis), facial wrinkles, migraine, excessive sweating, spasticity, and bladder spasms.

Myobloc® was approved for cervical dystonia only in 2000.

Dysport® was approved in 2009 for cervical dystonia and facial wrinkles.

Xeomin® was approved in 2010 for cervical dystonia and blepharospasm.