Botox injections

TREATMENT

Botox (also known as botulinum toxin) can be injected into the bladder wall to reduce muscle movements. This may be useful for patients who have an overactive bladder, which does not respond to lifestyle changes or medical treatments.

Botox is injected via a cystoscope (flexible under local anaesthetic or rigid under a general anaesthetic, see above) into the bladder wall and symptoms should start to improve within a few days.

Whilst this treatment may offer life-changing improvements in symptoms for many patients with overactive bladder, it does not always work and in some cases may be more effective than intended resulting in difficulty emptying the bladder. In such cases patients may need to perform intermittent self catheterisation several times each day until the Botox wears off, typically six to nine months later. In cases where the Botox works effectively patients should expect symptoms to start to return after six to nine months, at which point you may decide to have the treatment repeated.