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Botox has received FDA approval for another new purpose: the preventive treatment of chronic migraines in adults. The injectable, which is best known as a wrinkle treatment, is also approved to treat uncontrolled blinking; crossed eyes; some neck muscle spasms; underarm sweating; and muscle spasticity in the hands and elbows.

Migraines, which are three times more common in women than men, are characterized by intense pulsing or throbbing pain; patients with chronic migraine experience a headache more than 14 days of the month.

To prevent chronic migraine, Botox is given approximately every 12 weeks as several injections around the head and neck to try to dull future headache symptoms. Researchers are still exploring exactly how Botox works on migraines, and one theory is that it blocks pain signals from reaching nerve endings.

Botox had worldwide sales of about $1.3 billion last year, divided equally between medical and cosmetic uses, according to the New York Times. Allergan, the maker of Botox, believes its sales as a medical treatment may soon eclipse its sales as a cosmetic treatment.

Earlier this month it was reported that British scientists developed a way to refine Botox to improve its use for treating chronic migraine, as well as Parkinson’s and cerebral palsy. The researchers produced a refined Botox-like molecule, they said, which would be practical for clinical use but would not have unwanted toxic effects.

“It will now be possible to produce Botox-based medicines in a safer and more economical way,” said Bazbek Davletov, who led the study at Medical Research Council’s Laboratory of Molecular Biology.

Davletov said the new refining technique could allow scientists to produce new forms of Botox with wider practical medicinal uses, for example as a long-term painkiller.

For more on the latest Botox developments, read the FDA press release on its approval of Botox to treat chronic migraine and the article on refining Botox, “Scientists Find Way to Refine Botox for New Uses.”

Allergan, the maker of Botox, will pay $600 million to resolve criminal and civil complaints of illegal marketing tactics. Allergan denies most of the complaints in lawsuits by whistle-blowers and federal prosecutors, but documents released by the Justice Department related to the settlement outlined claims that Allergan had systematically built Botox sales by promoting it for unapproved treatments to relieve conditions such as migraines, muscle spasticity, and cerebral palsy in children, reports the New York Times.

While Botox is best known as a wrinkle fighter, it can also used to treat a variety of muscle and gland disorders. The New York Times writes that “The Food and Drug Administration has over time approved the injections to mitigate uncontrolled blinking, certain neck muscle spasms, excessive underarm sweating, and wrinkles between the eyebrows. This year, the agency again expanded the use of Botox, permitting injections for increased muscle stiffness in the elbows and hands, and it is now considering whether to approve Botox as a preventive treatment for severe migraines.”

Furthermore, Allergan is researching if Botox could be a possible treatment for overactive bladders; it also owns patents on several other potential treatments.

Allergan has denied the criminal and civil accusations, except for the one misbranding charge, said Caroline Van Hove, an Allergan spokeswoman.

Doctors are allowed to prescribe drugs for unapproved “off-label” uses that they deem medically appropriate; however, it is illegal for a drug maker to promote off-label uses.

“I want to be clear that Allergan is not charged with misleading doctors or causing any patient harm,” writes Van Hove to a reporter, “and we adamantly deny any implication that this occurred.”

Allergan, she added, has spent hundreds of millions of dollars in medical research and development of new uses for Botox.

Botox is approved in 81 countries to treat 21 different conditions, according to Van Hove.