What we treat / Frown lines
Frown Lines (the 11s)
The two vertical lines between your brows are made by a muscle pulling inward every time you concentrate or squint. Relaxing that muscle with a neuromodulator is what softens them. If the line has etched itself into the skin and is visible when your face is still, a small amount of filler goes in afterwards.
Why they happen
There is a small muscle either side of the bridge of your nose whose job is to pull the brows together. It fires when you concentrate, when you squint into sun, and when you read something on a screen slightly too far away. Over years of doing that, the skin above it creases in the same two places every time.
Early on the lines only appear when you make the expression. Injectors call that a dynamic line, and it is the easiest kind to treat. Later the crease stays when your face is completely relaxed, which is a static line, and that usually needs two things rather than one.
How Dr. Mauer treats it
The main treatment
Botox & Neuromodulators
A few units into the muscle that is doing the pulling. Dr. Mauer treats the muscle causing the line and leaves the surrounding ones alone, which is why his patients keep saying they can still move their face.
Read about BotoxSometimes, as well
Dermal Fillers
Only if the crease is still visible once the muscle is relaxed. A very small amount, into the line itself, and never as a first step.
Read about dermal fillersWhat to expect
- Appointment
- 15 to 30 minutes
- Discomfort
- Most people describe a mild pinch
- Downtime
- None that stops you going back to work
- Visible
- 7 to 14 days for the full effect
- Lasts
- About 3 to 4 months
Results for this concern
Questions about frown lines
How many units will I need?+
It depends entirely on how strong that muscle is, which is why nobody can quote you a number before seeing your face move. Dr. Mauer works out the dose from how your face actually behaves rather than from a standard chart, and it is usually less than people expect.
Will my eyebrows drop?+
That is what happens when the wrong muscle is treated, or too much of it. It is the specific risk that experience prevents, and it is the reason this is worth having done by a physician who does it every day.
Can I start before I have lines?+
Some people do, once the line has started appearing on movement but before it has set into the skin. Whether that makes sense for you is a consultation question, not a rule.
Will people be able to tell?+
The point is that they cannot. The lines soften and your expression stays yours.
