Wrinkles on the forehead are extremely bothersome. Typically, the appearance of wrinkles begins at the age of 30. As much as we don’t want to have it, wrinkles may still appear as we go a little bit older.
Aging causes our forehead muscles and eyebrow tissues to significantly sag which then causes us to raise our eyebrows to try to hold our eyelids up. Thus, the repeated movement of the forehead muscles and tethering of the skin to the deeper structures in the forehead may lead to the occurrence of wrinkles.
Sometimes the forehead has dropped so much that the brows are pushing down on the upper eyelid skin and impairing our vision. Some people, without even noticing it, always act to pull up their eyebrows so they can clearly see.
Types of Wrinkles
- Dynamic wrinkles are those that appear only during active movement of the face and are best treated with Botox. Botox will temporarily stop the underlying frontalis muscle from pulling on the skin and creating the furrows and wrinkles.
- Static wrinkles are those that are always present even when the face is at rest. If these creases are deep, a combination of Botox to stop the primary culprit (frontalis muscle) and a filler (like Restylane, Juvederm) to fill the dermal defect are quite effective.
Forehead Wrinkles Treatments
Forehead wrinkles treatment depends on the underlying cause and extent of damage to the skin. There are several treatments for forehead wrinkles:
- Botox or Dysport Treatment- is an excellent option to inactivate the muscles that create dynamic forehead wrinkles. It is cheap, safe, and effective. It works by paralyzing the muscles of the forehead. It can take 20-40 units of Botox to fully paralyze the main muscle of the forehead, the frontalis muscle. Once paralyzed, wrinkles caused by contraction of that muscle will fade. Unfortunately, the treatment may only last for three months. Meaning, you will need to repeat the treatment every 3 to 4 months to maintain the effect.
- Brow Lift or Forehead Lift- is a surgical procedure done through small incisions hidden behind the hairline (endoscopic). It is used to elevate the eyebrows, placing it into a more natural position. Some people will no longer contract the forehead muscles to elevate the brow. Besides that, by tightly pulling the skin and deeper structures, wrinkles can be made less noticeable.
- Lasers or Ablative Skin Resurfacing – With the use of CO2 or Erbium lasers forehead wrinkles can be improved by removing the outer layers of the skin and promoting collagen tightening. Fractional lasers may work well on static wrinkles in which the frontalis muscle is weakened.
- Fillers – Hyaluronic Acid fillers such as Juvederm, Restylane, and Perlane are some of the popular fillers used in the market today. These fillers work well in improving the appearance of wrinkles but the effects are just temporary and may require repeated shots every 6 months to 1 year.
- Microdermabrasion ( Diamond Peel or Powerpeel)- This treatment works well for shedding off the outer layer of skin cells and exfoliates the skin. It is known to be effective in targeting superficial fine lines but is unlikely to do much for deeper wrinkles.
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