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.