Botox® may ease pain of cerebral palsy patients

Botox®, an injectable filler designed to improve signs of aging, is now being used to treat some cerebral palsy symptoms.

Miller Children's Hospital in Long Beach, California, offers Botox® injections to patients with cerebral palsy, according to the Orange County Register. The hospital lists the treatment as one of the most common for the set of neurological disorders.

"Botox® can be safely and painlessly injected directly in a specific muscle to relax that muscle to temporarily stop spasms," says the hospital's website.

Dr Susan Hutchinson, who injects Botox® as a treatment for migraines, believes that off-label use of the drug can be used safely.

"The risks are minimal," she told the news source.

Katy Fetters, a student at Huntington Beach High School who suffers from cerebral palsy, says she received Botox® injections when she was 10 years old to relax her contracted muscles that were causing her pain, reports the news provider.

It is estimated that the maker of Botox®, Allergan, makes $650 million each year from off-label use of its drug.