Three surgeons in Cleveland have spent a decade examining the effect that a facelift can have on the nerves that cause migraines. The results, published in this month’s edition of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, are based on a theory that migraines are caused by trigger points in the facial nerves.

The original study, led by Dr. Bahman Guyuron, included 75 people who suffered migraines. They were first given Botox injections in various parts of the face and neck to show the surgeons how the trigger points responded to a facelift.

Many of the patients reported relief from their headaches, but the effects of Botox, by nature, are temporary. So the doctors then performed face lift surgery to disable the various trigger points.

Patients who had experienced forehead migraines, for example, had their frowning muscles removed. Those who had been suffering pain in the temple area were given nerve surgery that lifted their eyebrows.

A year after the surgeries, more than half the patients reported complete relief from migraines and many others reported a heavy reduction of migraine symptoms.

Currently, more than 400 people have successfully undergone this treatment, though medical advisors are saying it should be reserved for migraine patients who have exhausted all other options.

All of those stories and more are featured in this week’s newscast. Click the screen below to catch Plastic Surgery News now!

Organizations mentioned in this episode:

• Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
• Thomas Jefferson University Hospital
• American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
• Geoffrey Keyes, MD, FACS
• Centers for Disease Control
• American Society of Plastic Surgeons
• Louis P. Bucky, MD, FACS
• Philip Young, MD
• Anika Therapeutics
• U.S. Food and Drug Administration
• Equmen
• Lane Smith, MD, FAACS
• Bahman Guyuron, MD

Dr. Bahman Guyuron, a plastic surgeon in Cleveland, Ohio, may have found the breakthrough, using only his surgeon’s knife to stop the pain.

The migraine is a prolonged and intense pulsating headache – more common among women than men – that can lead to nausea and can last anywhere from hours to days. The pain can become debilitating and many sufferers find medication to be ineffective. They are often forced to withstand these headaches on a weekly or daily basis for years.

However, the approach Guyuron has taken is to remove the pain by cutting off its path. He makes incisions around the patient’s head that cut muscle and nerve tissue – thereby stopping the headache signal from reaching the pain center of the brain.

The doctor reportedly discovered this cure completely by accident nearly ten years ago while performing plastic surgery. Since that time, hundreds of migraine sufferers have undergone Guyuron’s treatment.

He claims a success rate of 92 percent, stating that 75 percent of those patients are cured completely. The others experience at least a reduction of migraine symptoms.

The doctor now offers a course in Cleveland every October, teaching the procedure to surgeons from around the world.