Getting Rid of Forehead Wrinkles

Those bothersome wrinkles in the forehead that we all get as we get a bit older come primarily from the repeated movement of the forehead due to expression; these are called dynamic wrinkles. It is impossible to prevent these, but we are able to get rid of them very nicely with a little Botox.

The main goal in doing this is to eliminate the deep wrinkles and lines, but not eliminate facial expression. There are too many people walking around who have overdone the Botox and look like the Stepford wives with frozen or flat expression.

It is very important to go to a well-qualified and well-trained cosmetic specialist for this treatment. There are serious adverse side effects if Botox treatment is not done by well-trained and specialist physicians, so select your doctor carefully.

Wrinkles across the forehead are usually a sign that your eyebrows are dropping and you are frequently raising your brows to try to hold your eyelids up. This usually begins sometime in the 30s. Sometimes the forehead has dropped so much that the brows can be pushing down on the upper eyelid skin and impairing your vision.

If your case is mild, carefully placed Botox can soften the lines by decreasing the ability of those muscles to contract. But, be careful! If you weaken those muscles too much, you won't be able to raise your eyebrows. Your brows will droop and although you'll have a nice, smooth forehead, your eyebrows will be lower, your upper eyelids will appear fuller, and most importantly, you will not be happy.

If you go the Botox route, know that you will need to repeat the treatment every 3 to 4 months to maintain the effect.

A more permanent solution would be to have a brow lift. This will surgically raise the forehead and brows so that you do not have the need to raise your eyebrows constantly. For most people, I perform an endoscopic browlift through 5 tiny incisions in the scalp. In some instances, I'll use various different incisions without an endoscope, especially if you do not have hair on your head to cover the scars.

If your wrinkles are between the brows and not horizontally across the forehead, this can make you look angry. Botox is the preferred treatment for this area.

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All good feedback from the panel members. Using Botox or Dysport is an excellent first option in relaxing the muscles that are contributing to this appearance. What you may be noticing may actually be a different muscle group rather than the forehead muscle. Generally, when people complain that they look angry, they have overactive muscles that are contributing to the frown lines aka:  "the elevens." These muscles are considered "depressors." This means that they pull down and in with time. This then may lead to an angry or tired appearance. By relaxing key muscle groups, the face will appear naturally refreshed and with a subtle lifting of the brow.

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Forehead wrinkles are caused by overactive frontalis muscles underneath the skin of the forehead. These muscles are deactivated by a commercially available medicine: botox. 

Botox works by inhibiting the release of acetylcholine neurotransmitters across the synaptic junction.  Once blocked, the muscles are not able to tighten and this minimizes, temporarily, the wrinkles found on the forehead.

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Dysport or Botox work great for most forehead wrinkles and last about 3-4 months at a cost of roughly $350. It only takes about 2 minutes to do.

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By far, Botox is the best treatment to get rid of your worried/angry look.  It relaxes the muscles that cause dynamic forehead lines and wrinkles.

Have fun.

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Botulinum toxins (Botox or Dysport) are definitely the best first choice for treating forehead lines.  When placed carefully, they can produce amazing results.

As you know, other options including a forehead lift exist. Treatment with Sculptra is another one to know about for treating horizontal forehead lines. It is certainly not commonly used, but it has been reported to work well. I would try Botox or Dysport first, but it is another treatment to know about if they do not provide satisfactory improvement.

Botox works very nicely for 'dynamic' wrinkles which occur due to forehead muscle contraction.  It will also prevent future wrinkles from developing.  Botox, however, does not eliminate wrinkles that are already etched in although it may soften them.  For these 'static' or permanent wrinkles you can consider other options such as ablative or non-ablative laser resurfacing.  These laser procedures, however, will work best if combined with Botox otherwise the wrinkles will return fairly quickly.

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You neglected to provide the most important piece of information: are you male or female? While it's true that Botox is about the simplest way to relax unwanted lines and wrinkles of the face..including the forehead. If you're female and your eyebrows are low, a Forehead or Browlift is another way to reduce these lines while placing the eyebrows in a more aesthetic position.

Dysport is another toxin like Botox that will cause relaxation of wrinkles and is just coming to us here in the US, so you'll have two injection materials to choose from. Only time will tell which one works best and is better priced.