When Getting Botox for "11s", do I Need to Also have Injections Above the Eyebrows? (photo)

 


Injections for the frown lines do need to be placed above the eyebrows as you had described in order to soften the facial expression in this area.

Rather than placing the injections exclusively between the eyebrows to avoid getting a frozen look, I would recommend instead to have your doctor administer a lower dosage.

The skill and technique of the practitioner is extremely important for getting the results that you want. So please seek help from a board certified dermatologist.


 

Most people have a dense group of three muscles that contribute to the vertical frown lines between the eyebrows. If only the points between the eyebrows are injected then not all muscle groups and not all the parts of the muscles involved will be affected by the botox. The photograph you supplied shows corrugator muscles that are active significantly above the eyebrows, which is normal, but a lack of treatment above the plane of the eyebrows would result in an incompletely treated glabella and the frown lines would partially persist.  Treating the frown lines does not prevent you from maintaining muscle action of the forehead above the eyebrows and the mid to upper part of the middle forehead. You would still have a lot of normal action. Should one's anatomy however, demonstrate activity of a corrugator muscle that is placed lower on the forehead, or does not have as much vertical girth as the normal muscles in this area, then possibly that person's doctor could deliver Botox to just the plane between the eyebrows and as long as the frontalis muscle does not cause much of your frown lines, then they may obtain a good enough improvement.  This is why an expert is needed to evaluate you before your treatment, and should be a dermatologist or plastic surgeon who would examine you and treat you, not the textbook!

Botox to treat the 11's needs to work on the muscle that runs from the nasal side (medial aspect) of the eyebrow to about the mid eyebrow where you may feel a notch.  If you only inject between the eyebrows you probably will not temporarily paralyze the whole muscle unit and will not be full pleased with your results.

There are many different ways to inject botulinum toxin A cosmetic.  Most doctors are willing to honor your concerns and provide a treatment that matches what you are looking for.

There are 2 main muscles that should be treated to properly reduce the "11s". The procerus and corrugator supercilli muscles, which require injections in the middle and above the brows. I would go for a lower dose overall to minimize a frozen look and reassess in 2 weeks for possible addition of botox units, rather than only treating 1 of the 2 important frowning muscles.