Botox may relieve persistent pelvic pain caused by endometriosis
A small study shows the toxin can lessen women’s pelvic spasms for months
For some women with endometriosis, the pain doesn’t stop after surgical and hormonal treatments. It can persist, triggered by muscle spasms that ripple through the pelvic floor. Now, a small study suggests that Botox, best known for smoothing wrinkles, could quell those spasms and relieve that pain.
Thirteen women diagnosed with the disorder, in which tissue similar to what lines the uterus grows elsewhere in the body, had the botulinum toxin injected into their pelvic floor, which supports the pelvic organs. The shots targeted areas of muscle spasm that were sites of pain. The women, ages 21 to 51, had been in pain for at least two years.