If I get Botox just in my elevens will it cause the rest of my forehead to wrinkle more to compensate the paralyzed 11s?

I appreciate your good question. The 11s are one of the most popular places to treat with Botox and based on your photo, you look like an excellent candidate. Botox works by relaxing the muscles that lead to the formation of certain creases. The procedure needs to target the precise muscles to produce a positive result without compromising your ability to make natural facial expressions or affecting other muscles. For this reason, you should be able to have your 11s treated with confidence without concern that other areas of the forehead will be affected. We often see the brow lift after Botox to the 11s and occasionally the forehead will wrinkle a tiny bit more as it lifts up. If this happens it is easily fixed with a touch up. Make sure you work with a board-certified cosmetic dermatologist with extensive experience using neuromodulators to ensure an optimal outcome. 

Hi,If you treat the glabella (the 11 lines) only, the forehead should not worsen, in fact it often gets better because the eyebrows lift slightly, eliminating the drive to raise the brows by tightening the forehead (frontalis muscle).  Some people exhibit something called muscle recruitment when the eyelid closing muscles try to take over for the glabella muscles that are not working as well.  But this doesnt impact the forehead. 

For glabellar lines (or frown lines / "11" lines), we inject Botox into the muscle, causing the muscle to weaken and improving the appearance of the lines -- and therefore, if injected properly, should not cause the forehead to wrinkle. Botox works by binding to receptors that send nerve signals for muscles to contract. Since your body makes new receptors and neurotransmitters all the time, it needs to be maintained otherwise the wrinkles will slowly return as the muscle regains function over time. Botox takes 2 to 4 weeks to start working and lasts for up to 6 months.
For deeper glabella lines or strong 11s, I use a combination of Botox with fillers, lasers and microneedling/PRP. I suggest getting a formal evaluation with an experienced cosmetic dermatologist and expert in lasers and fillers. Best, Dr. Emer

Botox in the "11's" is injected into the corrugator muscles which pull the brows together. The forehead muscles lift the brows so these muscles do very different functions. As such, having Botox in the corrugators to relax the "11's" should not effect the forehead muscles,...unless the injector places the Botox too high, which can then effect the forehead muscles and cause the "Spock" effect where the forehead muscles in the midline don't lift so well, but the outer portion of the forehead muscles do, thus lifting the outer brows but not the middle brows, leading to an awkward "Spock" appearance to the brows. This can be easily corrected by placing a little Botox in the outer forehead to balance things out.Andrew Campbell, M.D.Facial Rejuvenation SpecialistQuintessa

Thank you for submitting you photograph with your concern. Based on what is concerning you, you would not experience any worsening of the wrinkles on your forehead. When you treat an area around the face it improves the whole look on your face. Most of the time it even improves the texture to other wrinkles. I would suggest you consult with a Board-certified plastic surgeon for best results. Best of luck. 

Botox in the area of the 11's (the glabella) should not cause an increase in wrinkles in another location.  The Botox, if applied correctly, should effect the muscles that are only responsible for the 11 lines.  There is always a little bit of overlap onto the muscles that cause forehead lines, but this would serve to decrease these wrinkles, not increase them!

Thank you for sharing your excellent question. Treatment of the 11's will not impact the muscle function, or wrinkle formation, of your forehead.  Hope this helps.

Hi, thank you for your question. Botox works by relaxing the muscles it is injected in, which will treat and even prevent wrinkles caused by these muscles. It is a good option of treatment for the "11" area and can be combined with other treatments (fillers, lasers, PRP, microneedling, radiofrequency) if needed. Botox will not directly make other muscles (like forehead muscles) contract more but the face must always be looked at globally before treating one specific area. The reason for this is that although Botox does not stimulate other muscles to contract more in your face, the fact that one muscle is moving less can leave room for another muscle to move more, because a new balance of movement is created. It doesn't mean you necessarily have to get Botox injected in your forehead but you might need to do this to keep natural expression and prevent your eyebrows to be positioned very high after treating the "11" area. A certified injector can assess your facial expressions and help you decide what will give you the best results. I hope that helps. Best of luck!

Botox locks the release of a chemical called acetylcholine, which triggers the muscle contractions that create wrinkles. Botox essentially paralyzes the muscles and stops them from contracting. Results from these treatments are visible within 3-7 days with results that can last anywhere from 3-4 months. The corrugator muscles (11's)  pull the brows together and the forehead muscles lift the brows so these muscles do very different functions. Sometimes some muscles can over compensate when not injected, but these muscles are not related and pull differently. Next step for you is schedule a consultation with a board certified dermatologist to discuss your goals and options. Hope this helps. 

Sometimes you will see a subtle 'tug-of-war" effect, where relaxing one set of muscles will make the action of the opposing muscles relatively stronger.  In the case of treating the "11's", the effect is actually a medial brow lift if the frontalis muscle (responsible for forehead lines) is left alone or weakened to a lesser extent.  This is usually considered a positive effect, but the horizontal forehead lines might appear subtly more apparent because their action is unopposed.  Also, if you relax the wrinkles in one area, it can make the wrinkles in other areas become more noticeable in contrast.   If you have minimal wrinkles on your forehead, you should be fine just treating the corrugators alone.  Many patients start with that area and are very happy with the results.  Also, It's easy to go back and treat the horizontal forehead lines with a small dose to rebalance the muscles if you feel it had any negative effect on the forehead.