The FDA approved Botox injection to treat urinary incontinence (UI) in people with neurologic bladder conditions such as spinal cord injury and multiple sclerosis who have over activity of the bladder. The effectiveness of Botox to treat this type of incontinence was demonstrated in two clinical studies involving 691 patients. Both studies showed statistically significant decreases in the weekly frequency of incontinence episodes in the Botox group compared with placebo.

Injection of the bladder with Botox is performed using cystoscopy, a procedure that allows a doctor to visualize the interior of the bladder. Cystoscopy may require general anesthesia. The duration of the effect of Botox on urinary incontinence in patients with bladder overactivity associated with a neurologic condition is about nine months.In addition to its use to improve the appearance of facial frown lines, Botox also is FDA-approved to treat chronic migraine headaches, certain kinds of muscle stiffness and contraction, severe underarm sweating, abnormal twitch of the eyelid and a condition in which the eyes are not properly aligned. While not a FDA-approved for the treatment of interstitial cystitis (IC), the use of Botox to treat IC is becoming more common.

Will IC soon be added to this list of FDA-approved indications? Stay tuned.

8/25/2011  Source:  Interstitial Cystitis Association

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Comments

How encouraging - an ACTUAL use for Botox! I'll be keeping a close eye on this.

Botox is an amazingly versatile treatment. How effective would it be for the elderly with incontinence problems? The article mentions spinal cord injuries, what about arthritic changes in the spine that may affect the spinal cord - causing incontinence problems too?

I'm very interested to see how this plays out. My job offers me the chance to connect regularly with many women who are dealing with stress urinary incontinence problems, and it would be great to come up with a less invasive solution than the surgical mesh products many doctors use today. It would seem Botox treatments would create less severe side effects.

Botox is becoming the next "wonder drug" - seems there are few things it CAN'T be used for... However recent research (came out Jan 2012) has showed botox affects muscles remote from the injection site... a bit worrying potentially.

Botox injection are used to reduced the wrinkles and gives a younger look. Botox injection have many uses. This botox injection is also used to treat the urinary incontinence. This post contains a very useful information how the botox injection are used to treat the urinary incontinence, this information is really very useful for those who suffer from this urinary incontinence.

Certainly very encouraging, this treatment with botox, but also troubling side effects in surrounding areas, will have to wait more conclusive results.

It's great to see more and more uses of Botox and it certainly looks like new ones are found every month or so. It might be a strange question, but is it really possible to achieve this kind of result using Botox only? Thanks in advance, Kery