Chrissy Teigen and John Legend are currently expecting their third child, and Teigen is dealing with some unpleasant pregnancy side effects. In particular, she gets “really bad pregnancy headaches,” she wrote on Twitter. And she’s now getting Botox injections to help manage those headaches during her pregnancy.
“Was thrilled to be cleared to do neck muscle botox along with a crazy combo of beta blocker shots and radio wave frequency something something doctor terms. anyhow man it’s just so bad but I see the light finally,” Teigen wrote. Later in the replies, Teigen added, “Jaw Botox for my grinding was a MUST for my regular headaches. You can also do behind the brow for migraines. Life changing,” and specified that she was seeing a neurologist for her Botox.
Headaches are one of the most common pregnancy symptoms—and something that Teigen has mentioned before. Experts aren’t totally sure why headaches are so common during pregnancy, SELF explained previously, but it likely has to do with both the changing hormone levels and the increased blood volume in the body that occurs during that time.
We do know that people who are generally more prone to headaches or who had a history of migraines before pregnancy are more likely to get them when pregnant. That’s not particularly surprising, especially because hormonal changes around the time of your period or ovulation are some of the most common migraine triggers. The normal hormonal changes that occur throughout your cycle and those that happen during pregnancy involve the same hormones (estrogen and progesterone). So if your migraines were triggered by hormonal changes before pregnancy, it’s more likely that you’ll experience them with pregnancy too.
Those headaches can also be triggered or exacerbated by many things, including poor sleep, changing your caffeine intake, overall stress, and a change in posture that may occur as your pregnancy goes on. If you clench or grind your jaw, that could also lead to muscle tightness and headaches, as Teigen noted.
Treatment for pregnancy headaches or migraines often starts with the usual recommendations, such as staying in a dark, quiet room (especially if your migraines cause light or sound sensitivity). You can also try over-the-counter pain medications, such as acetaminophen, but you should check with your doctor before taking something. But if you’re not getting relief with those methods, you should check in with your doctor. They might ask you to keep a headache diary to help identify and manage your triggers or they might prescribe a different treatment.
It’s not clear exactly what type of Botox (botulinum toxin) injection Teigen had, but the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Botox injections in 2010 specifically to help treat chronic migraines. And for those who find that that jaw clenching or teeth grinding tends to trigger migraines, one option is to get Botox injected into the jaw muscles to stop the involuntary clenching and grinding, the American Academy of Facial Aesthetics explains. However, note that this is an off-label use for Botox.
For most people, Botox isn’t recommended while you’re pregnant or breastfeeding—even if you’re using it to manage a headache issue. The drug is considered to be (what was formerly known as) FDA pregnancy class C, meaning that based on the extremely limited research we have available, Botox should be avoided during pregnancy except when the potential benefits outweigh the risks. So individual doctors and specialists may decide with a specific patient that it’s still the right treatment for them depending on how debilitating their symptoms are.
Of course, the decision to take any drug or undergo any treatment is an individual one that needs to be made after discussions between the pregnant person and their health care team. And any worrying, severe, or persistent pregnancy symptom deserves to be checked out and managed as best as possible.
Related:
Chrissy Teigen’s Struggle With Pregnancy Headaches Is All Too Real
What Your Headaches Can Tell You About Your Health
When to See a Doctor About Those Persistent Headaches