Can facial muscle spasms be cured with Botox?

  Facial myoclonus is a recurrent paroxysmal, involuntary twitching of the facial muscles on one or both sides of the face, aggravated by emotion or tension, and in severe cases, difficulty in opening the eyes, distorted corners of the mouth, and twitching-like murmurs in the ears. Most of the facial muscle spasms are located on one side, and a few are bilateral and sequential. Typical facial muscle spasm means that the spasm starts from the eyelid (eyelid jumping) and gradually progresses downward to involve the lower facial muscles such as the cheek expression muscles, while atypical facial muscle spasm means that the spasm starts from the lower facial muscles and gradually progresses upward to involve the eyelid. Clinically, atypical facial spasms are rare, and the majority are typical.  The onset of facial muscle spasms mostly begins with the orbicularis oculi and then involves the entire face. The degree of twitching varies, with twitching increasing during tension, emotional excitement or fatigue and disappearing during quiet or sleep. In a few severe cases, the facial muscle twitches may involve the entire facial muscles. The twitching is mostly limited to one side, and bilateral cases are very rare.  The current common methods of treatment for facial muscle spasm are: medication and microvascular decompression.  1, drug therapy: for patients with milder conditions, short-term use of some drugs may ease the condition, but the toxic side effects of drugs are large, not suitable for long-term use, and patients with more severe conditions take drugs without efficacy.  2, Chinese medicine acupuncture treatment: some patients using acupuncture treatment, the initial effect, but after a while the condition will be repeated, the attack up the condition even more serious. And facial muscle spasm itself is afraid of stimulation, acupuncture has a certain degree of irritation, sometimes with acupuncture will aggravate the disease.  3, botulinum toxin injection method: the treatment mechanism is to use botulinum toxin to block neuromuscular transmission, reducing the degree of facial muscle spasm, without affecting the normal nerve conduction. It is reported that the early complete relief reaches 80%-100%, but generally 12-16 weeks, after the metabolism of botulinum toxin, the symptoms recur and the injection must be repeated. Common complications include facial palsy, dry eyes, diplopia, dysphagia, etc. After 3 years of cumulative injections, complications amount to 60%-75%.  4, surgery: mainly for apparent microvascular decompression, for: primary facial spasm, exclude secondary lesions, no history of facial nerve injury, poor results of conservative treatment and other patients, no complications, is the current preferred treatment.