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4 reasons why the forehead is so hard to treat with anti-wrinkle injections

Article medically reviewed by Dr. Gavin Chan (MBBS, cosmetic doctor, liposuctionist)

Templestowe Lower, Berwick and Beaumaris Clinics

Dr. Gavin Chan has a background in intensive care, anaesthesia, and emergency medicine. Since 2005, Dr. Chan has provided cosmetic procedures, including anti-wrinkle injections, dermal fillers, liposuction and laser treatments. He is a doctor trainer for various dermal fillers and anti-wrinkle injections. Read More

While the forehead area is one of the most popular areas to treat using anti-wrinkle injections, it can also be the hardest to treat according to Dr. Gavin Chan (MBBS, Cosmetic Doctor, Liposuctionist). In a recent YouTube video, he revealed how he treats the forehead with anti-wrinkle injections, without it appearing frozen and unnatural.

According to Dr. Gavin Chan, when Cosmetic Doctors and Cosmetic Nurses are learning how to treat the forehead using anti-wrinkle injections, they’re instructed not to inject just over the outer brow. ‘They’re taught bad habits from the beginning’, as this teaching causes the brows to over-arch and make you look like Mr. Spock.

He explains, “the forehead is one of the hardest areas to inject with anti-wrinkle injections because it’s really difficult to find a balance. The forehead has one muscle in it, which elevates the eyebrows (called the frontalis muscle) who’s sole job is to raise the eyebrows. This muscle gives us expressions such as surprise or maybe mild disapproval. If you’ve got excessive movement of this muscle, or if you overuse it, you’re going to get wrinkles forming.”

By refining his anti-wrinkle injection techniques, Dr. Gavin Chan and his team of highly trained and experienced Cosmetic Doctors and Cosmetic Nurses use anti-wrinkle injections to treat the forehead area, so it looks natural.

 

First reason why the forehead is hard to treat with anti-wrinkle injections

The forehead can be hard to treat with anti-wrinkle injections because invariably most people around the age of 30 to 35 years start getting heaviness in their upper eyelids. This can be caused by genetic reasons or as a result of the natural ageing process. 

If your upper eyelids are heavy, the dose of anti-wrinkle injection needs to be moderated. This results in less relaxation of the forehead which means you’re not going to be able to completely remove all your wrinkles. And because the dosage is lower the longevity of the anti-wrinkle treatment won’t be as long with some patients needing further treatment after 6 to 8 weeks. Dr Gavin Chan explains there is a solution, “by injecting anti-wrinkle injection into the muscle that pulls down the brow (orbicularis oculi muscle), we can balance the pulling forces of the frontalis muscle and the orbicularis oculi muscles without adding to your eyelid heaviness.”

 

Second reason why the forehead is hard to treat with anti-wrinkle injections

While most patients want a brow lift without wrinkles occurring, in reality this can be difficult to achieve. Dr Gavin Chan notes, “These two things are contradictory. You can’t lift the brows by relaxing the forehead muscles. One solution that I don’t like is to avoid injecting anti-wrinkle injections above the brow. But this can result in your eyebrows spiking at the ends, so you look like Mr Spock!” If this happens, it’s one of the tell-tale signs that you’ve had anti-wrinkle treatment. Ideally a good cosmetic treatment should be undetectable.

Another thing to remember is that lifted brows are not a sign of youth. As we age, the brow will naturally elevate. If you look at teenagers, you’ll notice their brows aren’t elevated and they will have some puffiness to their eyelids. Dr Gavin Chan believes the solution to this problem is to manage patient expectations, “forehead wrinkles and brow lifting are two incompatible things. It’s not necessary to have your brow lifted because that is not a sign of a youthful appearance.”

 

Third reason why the forehead is hard to treat with anti-wrinkle injections

For patients who have static lines in their forehead, where the lines are evident without raising their eyebrows, anti-wrinkle injections may not be the solution. While these are the people who you think would need anti-wrinkle injections the most, they’re the least suited to having anti-wrinkle injections because they’ve developed a degree of hypertonicity of the frontalis muscle. Dr Gavin Chan explains, “this means that your brows and your eyelids have dropped with ageing and to compensate your brain says raise up your eyebrows to contract your frontalis muscle. Over time this muscle is in constant contraction, resulting in visible etching of forehead lines.”

If a patient’s heavy eyelids are causing their forehead lines, a better solution to anti-wrinkle injections is to have eyelid surgery, called blepharoplasty. For patients who aren’t keen on surgery, dermal filler treatment can be appropriate. Dr Gavin Chan suggests dermal filler can be used in two ways. “Firstly, you can do inject small amounts of dermal filler into the forehead lines to lift the wrinkles up. Another method is to use dermal filler to actually revolumise the forehead. Injecting dermal filler into the concavities of your forehead results in less wrinkles and a more youthful appearance.”

 

Fourth reason why the forehead is hard to treat with anti-wrinkle injections

The fourth reason why the forehead is hard to inject is because it’s actually a very large and wide muscle. Dr Gavin Chan notes, “traditionally we were taught to inject about 5 to 6 injections in the forehead, but most of the time you can’t cover the whole forehead with this few injections. If some spots in your forehead are missed, you’ll have some parts of your forehead smooth while other parts will be moving.”

A solution Dr Gavin Chan uses is to inject anti-wrinkle injections using an electronic injector called a Pistor. This injection technique enables the tiniest amounts of anti-wrinkle injections to be injected with absolute precision. Watch this video of Dr Gavin Chan treating a lovely patient’s forehead with anti-wrinkle injections using this technique. 

 

Where to get forehead wrinkles treated in Melbourne

Before you get your forehead wrinkles treated with anti-wrinkle injections, it’s important to consider the following:

  • Does the clinic have a good reputation for delivering natural-looking anti-wrinkle injection results?
  • Do the Cosmetic Doctors and Cosmetic Nurses use advanced injection techniques?
  • Does the clinic offer a follow-up review appointment 7 to 10 days after your anti-wrinkle treatment?

Dr. Gavin Chan and his team of highly trained and experienced Cosmetic Doctors and Cosmetic Nurses have been treating patients with anti-wrinkle injections since 2005. Call our helpful and friendly customer service team today to book your anti-wrinkle injection treatment 1300 863 824.