Is It Possible to Use Restylane Only for Frown Lines? Not Botox?

Thank you for your question. The frown lines between the brows can be address two different ways:
1) Botox or Dysport can be used to soften the deepening of the frown lines when making a frown expression. The treatment may even soften the lines that are present at rest.
2) Restylane or Juvederm can be used to soften the frown lines that are present even when you don't make an expression.
For someone who has concerns with both the static lines (without expression) and the dynamic lines (with expression), then using both products would work well together.
I often find that patients who return after a Botox or Dysport treatment in the frown areas complaining it didn't work, is due to the confusion between the static and dynamic frown lines. They continue to see the static lines even though the dynamic lines have softened considerably.

Botox keeps your corrugator muscles from making the frown line. It sounds like you got a good result at rest.  However, you may have gotten a "spock effect." Revisit your injector and tell her your complaint.  A touchup may help to take away your "stiff-funny" expression.  

Restylane fills in furroughs.  It will take away the line at rest, but it will not keep your muscles from making a frowning face when you are concentrating/angry/etc.  

Restylane and botox actually work very well together for the frown line between the eyebrows.  If you want to pursue restylane, make sure you go to an experienced injector.  The reason is that the frown line is an advanced area; sometimes tissue necrosis can occur in that area so you definitely want to go to someone with experience.

Hi Ang.  While it is possible to use just Restylane or Juvederm for this area, we do not inject fillers until after we have injected Botox.  In many cases the frown lines resolve and no fillers are needed.  In other cases, we do need the filler, but much less so than before the Botox.  We would suggest trying the Botox first.

See the pictures for the deep frown line at the link below.

Fillers do not work as well as botox for feadhead lines because as the muscle continues to move the skin continues to crease when Juvederm or Restylane are used but botox makes the skin muscles relax.

When is comes to frown lines, Botox works better for most people. It is possible to reduce the frown lines without dramatically affecting the ability to raise the eyebrows. Eyebrow motion is affected with reduction of the transverse forehead wrinkles because both depend on the motion of the frontalis muscle. The frown lines are caused by a different muscle and with careful use, you should be able to relieve your frown lines and maintain eyebrow elevation.

I most often use Restylane in this are when the frown lines are too deep to resolve with just Botox, but I do use it occasionally for patients who don't want Botox.  Since Restylane works by adding volume, the correction must be precise, and there is an upper limit to the amount of Restylane that can be added without causing unwanted glabellar fullness.

Because the cause of the furrow between the eyebrows is a hyperactive muscle, treatments that relax it (Botox or Dysport) are the most effective. An experienced and careful injector can adjust the techique so you won't have the funny expression (you don't need to have a "patented" procedure for this.) There are some patients who have had the furrow for so long that it becomes etched into the skin, in which case the addition of a filler is helpful, but fillers typically don't work all that well in that location as the only treatment.

Dear Angharad

Not all BOTOX procedures freeze the forehead.  Take a look at my website and read about my patented Microdroplet BOTOX method.

Can hyaluronic acid fillers like Restylane be used to fill the glabellar lines?  The answer is yes but this is an advance technique.  The reason for this is this area is also one where injection with Restylane as resulted in skin necrosis from damage to the blood vessels in this area.  This type of circulatory damage has cause necrosis (death) of the skin of the tip of the nose and permanent visual loss.  Any injection of filler in this area must be placed high in the dermis and with very little volume to avoid these terrible complications.  Experience counts with these treatments.

While restylane can be injected by itself for frown lines, botox is the treatment of first choice for frown lines. Restylane is sometimes used in combination for deeper lines. This treatment should only be done by an experienced and expert injector due to the risks.

Sounds like you did have some significant Botox placement in your forehead area, but if you had it placed JUST for the vertical frown line between your brows, it should not affect the raising of the eyebrows at all (causing that outer winging), IF done properly.

Fillers like Restylane and Juvederm for sure can be done alone, and there is no problem with that, except that the effect is not as long lasting since you re-crease the area multiple times a day and push the filler away. I would recommend reviewing what Botox was placed where, and considering (next round.... in 3 or 4 months) repeating some Botox but in a different pattern with none on the forehead itself, along WITH your filler.

Restylane or Juvederm can work in this area.....but I caution you to have someone who understands the anatomy well.

The supra-orbital vein, artery and nerve are near the injection site.  Make sure that you have someone who understands this anatomy well. 

it is important to remember that the mechanism of how Bo-tox works is by relaxing the muscles at the muscle nerve junction.  If a frown line has been present for many years it may take a number of injections over time to relax the muscle and have an effect.  If there is loss of dermal tissue, one may never have a perfect result.