Washington, Nov 10 : Botox not only fights wrinkles but is also a medication for chronic pain, a new study has said.

Between five and 26 people out of every 100,000 have their lives significantly disrupted by some form of chronic pain.

Traditionally, treatments for pain have included massage, physiotherapy, stretching and strengthening exercises, and heat/cold therapy.

Now this study has found injecting Botox into the area affected by pain provides significant relief. Patients suffering from severe pain received an average of nine injections
-- one every four weeks.

All patients reported a significant improvement (31.25 percent) in their daily pain control that was maintained for up to 17 months.

More than five million Botox injections were given in 2008, according to American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) statistics. Botox injections are up eight percent since
2007 and 537 percent since 2000, said an ASPS release.

These findings were presented at the Plastic Surgery 2009 conference in Seattle.(IANS)