How to get rid of forehead wrinkles: why does it vary from person to person?
When someone asks me, “How do I get rid of my forehead wrinkles?”, I first ask them to raise their eyebrows and let them drop. The answer comes after that. The lines may look like the same horizontal stripes, but when the reason differs, so does the approach.
The short answer
Start by sorting your forehead lines: do they show only when you raise your brows, do they stay at rest, or are you using your forehead to open your eyes? Lines that form with movement shrink a lot with botox. But in an analysis of 1,178 people, the share improving by at least one grade was about 98 to 100% with brows raised and 78 to 84% at rest, so creases already set in changed less. Block the forehead hard and the brows can drop and make the eyes feel heavy, so I often choose to leave a little line behind. I could not find studies showing that patches or massage give a lasting effect. At Miso Clinic, 4F Bombom Building, 125 Dongdeok-ro, Jung-gu, Daegu (Exit 1, Kyungpook Nat'l Univ. Hospital Station), +82-53-428-2700, I have you make expressions and sort the lines with you.
What kind of forehead wrinkles do I have?
| How it looks | What it means | Look at first |
|---|---|---|
| Horizontal lines only when raising the brows | Expression lines folded by the frontalis muscle | Botox |
| Lines stay even at rest | Long folding has left a crease in the skin | Botox alone may fall short, so discuss dermal treatment too |
| Brows always sitting high | Heavy eyelids, so the forehead is doing the work of opening the eyes | Caution with forehead botox; eyelids first |
| Diagonal lines on the side of the forehead in the morning | Sleep wrinkles from pressure in your sleeping position | Sleeping position |
| Thin and dense, more visible when dry | Fine lines in the skin texture | Sun protection, retinoids, skin boosters |
In front of a mirror, look once with a neutral face and once with your brows raised as far as they go. Then close your eyes and slowly open them with your forehead relaxed. If your brows rise the moment your eyes open, your forehead is helping your eyes open. That is the case I am most careful with.
→ More: Types of facial wrinkles: does each need a different fix?
Can patches, massage or cream get rid of forehead wrinkles?
These are the words search autocomplete offers most, so I will be frank. A forehead patch presses the skin flat while it is on. I could not find a human study showing the effect lasts after you take it off. For forehead massage, too, I could not find a comparative study showing it reduces wrinkles.
For facial exercise, there is about as much as one 20-week pilot study in middle-aged women. And forehead wrinkles are lines made by using the muscle a lot, so I do not recommend forehead exercises.
Among things you apply, retinoids have the longest-standing evidence. In a double-blind trial that followed 99 people with photoageing for 48 weeks, tretinoin 0.1% and 0.025% both improved more than placebo. That is about fine lines and texture, and it does not mean deep horizontal lines disappear. It needs a prescription and is not used in pregnancy. What slows new wrinkles is sunscreen. In a trial that followed 903 people for 4.5 years, those who applied it daily had 24% less skin ageing.
Will botox smooth my forehead wrinkles completely?
Lines that form with movement shrink a lot. In a phase 3 trial of 391 people treated on the forehead and glabella together, 61.4% had forehead lines improve by two grades or more at day 30, against 0% on placebo. Please bear in mind that the manufacturer took part in that trial.
But look at the 1,178-person analysis I mentioned, and with the same injection the numbers fall once the measure changes to the face at rest. A spot that has been folded for years does not smooth out right away, even when the muscle rests. I always explain this difference before treatment.
I generally reckon on 3 to 4 months for how long it lasts. In a 48-person trial that treated three areas on the same day, the forehead tended to wear off before the glabella and eye area (the product is not used in Korea, so take this only as a general pattern).
Can forehead botox make my eyes feel heavy?
Yes. Anyone hoping to get rid of forehead wrinkles should know this before anything else. The frontalis is the only muscle that lifts the brows, so if you block it hard, the brows lose the force that was holding them up.
In a randomised trial of 45 people, the brows dropped at most points 2 weeks after forehead injection, and the group injected only in the upper forehead had less smoothing of lines but avoided brow droop. A study of 41 East Asian people pointed the same way, though it had no control group. In effect you are trading lines for brow height.
So I do not aim to erase forehead lines completely. A face with a slight line and brows where they belong looks less tired. For people whose eyelids are heavy to begin with, I am cautious about forehead botox.
What about forehead creases botox will not smooth?
A crease that stays with a neutral face is not just a muscle matter, so we discuss treatments that fill the dermis or refine the texture as well. But the forehead is also a place where the blood vessels need care. In a literature review of 365 new reports of vision loss after filler, the forehead accounted for 27.7%, second only to the nose. It is rare, but the consequence is heavy however seldom it happens, so I bring it up.
A flat forehead or one that has hollowed over a wide area is a different story, and I have written about that separately.
→ More: Juvelook for the forehead: flat foreheads and forehead lines
Forehead wrinkles: frequently asked questions
Do forehead wrinkle patches work?
They press the skin flat while they are on, but I could not find a human study showing the effect lasts after you take them off.
Can botox get rid of forehead wrinkles completely?
Lines that form with movement shrink a lot, but creases that stay at rest change less. In an analysis of 1,178 people, improvement by at least one grade was about 98 to 100% with brows raised and 78 to 84% at rest.
Will forehead botox make my eyes feel heavy?
It can. The frontalis is the only muscle that lifts the brows, so blocking it hard lets the brows drop. That is why we decide the amount and sites area by area and look again 2 weeks later.
Where can I get a forehead wrinkle consultation in Daegu?
At Miso Clinic, 4F Bombom Building, 125 Dongdeok-ro, Jung-gu, Daegu (Exit 1, Kyungpook Nat'l Univ. Hospital Station), +82-53-428-2700. Weekdays 11:00–19:00, Saturday 10:00–16:00, closed Sundays and public holidays.
Read next
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Related treatments: Botox: when it starts working and how long it lasts · Types of facial wrinkles
Who wrote this
Written and reviewed by Lee Chi-Hak, MD, director of Miso Clinic, Daegu. The treatment standards and injection design set out here are the ones we use in practice.
| Medical director | Lee Chi-Hak, MD |
|---|---|
| Address | 4F Bombom Building, 125 Dongdeok-ro, Jung-gu, Daegu, South Korea · Exit 1, Kyungpook National University Hospital Station |
| Phone | +82-53-428-2700 |
| Hours | Weekdays 11:00–19:00 (lunch 13:00–14:00) / Saturday 10:00–16:00 (no lunch break) / Closed Sundays and public holidays |
| Columns | All clinical columns |
| Reference library | All booster and device references |
References
- Pooled analysis of phase 3 forehead line trials — Palm MD et al. Dermatol Surg 2020;46(5):653-61. PMID 31625954. 1,178 people. Authors include manufacturer employees.
- Phase 3 forehead line trial — Fagien S et al. Forehead Line Treatment With OnabotulinumtoxinA in Subjects With Forehead and Glabellar Facial Rhytids: A Phase 3 Study. Dermatol Surg 2017;43 Suppl 3:S274-84. PMID 33065953. 391 people, forehead and glabella injected together. Authors include manufacturer employees.
- Forehead injection site and brow height — Jabbour SF et al. Plast Reconstr Surg 2018;142(5):1212-7. PMID 30102667. 45 people randomised.
- Study injecting only the upper forehead — Wu L et al. Aesthetic Plast Surg 2026;50(3):753-61. PMID 40983743. 41 East Asian people, no control group.
- Phase 2 trial injecting three areas at once — Dover JS et al. Dermatol Surg 2023;49(1):60-5. PMID 36533798. 48 people, single arm, authors include manufacturer employees, a product not used in Korea.
- Literature review of vision loss from filler — Doyon VC et al. Update on Blindness From Filler. Aesthet Surg J 2024;44(10):1091-104. PMID 38630871. 365 new reports, September 2018 to March 2023.
- Topical retinoids — Griffiths CE et al. Arch Dermatol 1995;131(9):1037-44. PMID 7544967. 99 people, 48 weeks.
- Randomised sunscreen trial — Hughes MCB et al. Ann Intern Med 2013;158(11):781-90. PMID 23732711. 903 people, 4.5 years.
- Sleep wrinkles — Anson G, Kane MAC, Lambros V. Aesthet Surg J 2016;36(8):931-40. PMID 27329660.
- Pilot study of facial exercise — Alam M et al. Association of Facial Exercise With the Appearance of Aging. JAMA Dermatol 2018;154(3):365-7. PMID 29299598. 20-week pilot study in middle-aged women (no abstract, so no figures are given here).
- Korean medical advertising law — Korean Medical Service Act Article 56(2) (no treatment testimonials, no comparisons with other clinics, no superlatives). This is why this column carries no prices, reviews, before-and-after photos or doses.
- Miso Clinic practice guidelines — Miso Clinic botox materials: target muscles by area; lines sorted by having you make expressions; dose planned by muscle size, strength and left-right difference; review at 2 weeks; at least 3 months between sessions in the same area; approved uses explained first.
Everything in this column is general information and does not replace medical diagnosis or treatment. Effects and side effects vary with individual skin condition, age and underlying illness, and the same result is not guaranteed for everyone. Any decision to proceed should be made in an in-person consultation with a physician.