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Will Botox Between the Brows Cause Bunny Lines?

I've read in celebrity gossip mags that really visible bunny lines can be a result of Botox between the eyebrows. Best example is Nicole Kidman.

Is this really true? Do your nose muscles overcompensate when you "freeze" the muscles between your brows? I don't want the "11s," but I don't want to increase wrinkles elsewhere, either.

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eyebrows eyes face forehead nose 11s bunny lines crows feet wrinkles side effects

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15 Doctor Answers | Asked by Makenzie in Seattle, WA

Doctor Answers (15)
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Botox and bunny lines

In general, Botox doesn't cause new lines to form but if you or your muscles are still trying to make certain expressions new muscles and areas may be recruited to do so. Sometimes lines on the nose are already there but when the areas surrounding them become smoother and less noticeable we become heightenedly aware of other areas we may not have noticed before. If the bunny lines become bothersome, they are easily treated with a bit of Botox as well. Many people... more

Bunny Lines after Botox

It's not as easy as "Botox = bunny lines." Yes, rarely, Botox can cause lines to appear in other areas that they weren't previously. This is because the relaxed muscles are no longer working to make a facial expression so other areas are compensating and this may create new appearances. However, the bunny line creation is rare and usually not noticeable (or if noticeable, usually only to the person themself). I wouldn't ever recommend against Botox just because of the possibility of bunny... more

Bunny lines with Botox

These horizontal nasal lines, as seen in your picture of Nicole Kidman, are not caused by Botox but may be rendered more noticeable when the glabellar region is treated because of surrounding recruitment of muscles of animation. I often inject a small amount of Botox into the procerus muscles on either side of the upper nose at the same time as the corrugator treatment if there is evidence of hyperactivity in this region causing a horizontal rhytid. You can be easily treated by... more

Botox cause of bunny lines?

The muscles in the area may be recruited to move the face. More likely, the lines were always there, but are now more noticeable. Botox can treat bunny lines when placed properly. Best to seek out an experienced and well trained injector.

Botox and bunny lines

It is not usual for bunny lines to develop after treating frown lines. The bunny lines may have been there previously but you were concerned with your frown lines and did not notice them. Alternatively, to compensate for the loss of your frown, you are recruiting other muscles along the nose to cause the bunny lines. In either case, your bunny lines can easily be injected with Botox for a natural look. Please have treatment with an experienced... more

Bunny Lines Between the Brows

Bunny lines are natural in some people. But they can also occur after a Botox injection for frown lines. There are different muscles involved in forming frown lines- the corrugator, proceris muscles between the brows. And when some people frown, the nasalis muscles are active. In most treatment sessions for frown line, the muscles between the brows are targeted. The nasalis muscles then become more visually prominent with the appearance of the bunny lines. If you are thinking about... more

Botox between Brows does not cause Bunny Lines

Botox treatment between the brows erases or reduces the dynamic wrinkle lines where injected and does not cause bunny lines. On the contrary, Botox treatment on both sides of the upper lateral nose (near this location) eliminates or reduces bunny lines.

Botox and future bunny lines

When treating any muscle with Botox, it maybe that local muscles try to compensate for the inactivity. This may cause bunny lines to be more apparent if corrugators are treated. The bunny lines can be treated as well.

Steven Wallach, MD

12 reviews

Manhattan Plastic Surgeon

Life is Stressful

We wear life on our face...when life is stressful, or we are thinking deeply, we wear our emotions on our face. We knit our brows, we squint, we purse our lips, we frown. We all use our muscles in ways we do not consciously realize. In some patients, when one muscle group is relaxed, nearby muscle groups are 'recruited' to compensate. So after the glabella is softened, some patients will start gathering the upper part of the nose instead and get bunny lines. In others, relaxing the... more

Botox bunny lines

Some people have bunny lines naturally and botox can help smoothen these out, while some patients only seem to get bunny lines after the glabellar muscles are injected with Botox. The overcompensation does seem to be a reason and this can happen in the lower eyelid muscles when the crows' feet are injected, as is shown in this photograph too. see video

She has bunny lines because the muscles that create bunny lines were not treated.

This is a terrible treatment: Classic frozen forehead. The goal of forehead treatment is not paralysis but brow shaping. This is best done with the Microdroplet BOTOX method that I developed. You can study my website for more information on this method (lidlift dot com).

Kenneth D. Steinsapir, MD

8 reviews

Los Angeles Oculoplastic Surgeon

Botox For Frown Lines And Bunny Lines

Following a Botox or Dysport treatment, bunny lines can exist for one of two reasons – either they were not treated, or they have resulted from compensated/recruited muscle activity. Bunny lines result from contraction of the nasalis muscle. Frown lines occur from contraction of the corrugator and procerus muscles, and this produces the vertical lines (the “11s”) between the eyebrows and the horizontal crease across the upper nose. When many people frown they also... more

Bunny lines from Botox in glabella

Bunny lines arise from Pronounced movement of your nose muscles. However it is uncommon for them to be accentuated after Botox treatment in between eyebrows ( glabella) to reduce frowning. However, these bunny lines can be more emphasized after Botox treatment of crows feet, which can lead to exaggerated movement of nose muscles with a smile. This happens as muscles compensate for squint/ smile eyelid muscles which are relaxed with Botox to reduce wrinkles around the eyes. Good luck. more

Better to treat for bunny lines as well, when treating the glabellar complex.

It is a good idea to assess for and treat bunny lines as well, when treating the glabellar complex (dynamic lines between the eyebrows). Else it is possible that bunny lines may be more noticeable/ noticed for the first time after a Botulinum toxin injection, in which case the patient usually attributes it to the injection. This has been called by some as "the BNT sign"! This happens when the nasalis muscle is left out in a treatment session for the forehead -glabellar complex,... more

Is Botox the cause of Bunny lines?

The muscles targeted in the brows and those that cause these bunny lines are different and one won't necessarily affect the other. What can happen when you soften one are but no another, the area where the wrinkles persist is more noticeable. I treat the bunny lines with a small injection just on either side of the bridge of the nose, which works well.