Did you know that the frown line is also commonly called a “thinker’s line ”? That’s because when you’re concentrating, wrinkles often form between your eyebrows. This usually happens completely unconsciously! Here you’ll learn everything about the causes, early signs, and treatment options. And if it’s already bothering you: how you can get it treated quickly and easily in Vienna.
The frown line is also called glabellar wr inkle in medical jargon – colloquially we like to call them vertical forehead wrinkles. The glabella sounds complicated, but everyone knows it. This is usually the hairless skin region between both eyebrows. The vertical or horizontal wrinkles are called frown lines there. These occur when the skin is contracted by the underlying facial muscles.
Two different muscles are responsible for this. One runs like a field hockey stick along both eyebrows. The so-called musculus corrugator supercilii. This muscle causes vertical or slightly oblique frown lines in the skin. In contrast: The procerus muscle, which runs from the forehead to the nose. When this muscle contracts, horizontal lines appear between your eyebrows. These are the horizontal frown lines – not to be confused with the horizontal forehead wrinkles above them.
You can guess the answer. They are a problem at the latest when friends or work colleagues tell you that you look angry, although you are not angry at all at the moment. This means that your facial wrinkles are an expression of your personality. And who wants to be perceived as an angry person? None.
By now you know that the frown line does not only appear when you look angry. Most of the time, you make the creases between your eyebrows completely unconsciously. For example: If you can’t read well on the screen or a text at a distance. What happens then? You squint your eyes and frown lines and crow’s feet automatically form. Another example: it’s a sunny summer day and you forgot your sunglasses. The glasses not only protect you from UV rays, but also help prevent frown lines. Because in bright sunlight you automatically squint your eyes, which in turn causes wrinkles.
When you are young, everything is no problem. Because the wrinkles are gone immediately after you make them. But even in the 20s, the first fine lines can remain. Lines become wrinkles. And wrinkles to deep furrows in the 40s. The sooner you avoid such wrinkles, the longer your friendly facial expression will remain.
As you know by now, two muscles are responsible for the formation of wrinkles: the corrugator supercilii muscle and the procerus muscle. Both contract just below your facial skin when you look angry or strained. This causes frown lines to appear. As skin loses elasticity with age, fine expression lines begin to remain on your face – even if you’re not looking angry at the moment. Wrinkles deepen into folds. And later, the sum of wrinkles is responsible for the wrinkled facial expression on your skin.
Just like lip wrinkles, frown lines also develop with age. Unbelievable, but true: Some people do not own one even at an advanced age. In other words, genetics and environmental influences certainly play a certain role. For most, however, fine lines between the eyebrows – either slightly slanted or horizontal – begin to appear as early as the mid-20s. Rarely both. Initially, you barely notice them when you take a cursory glance in the mirror. And later you already notice them in every photo. The good thing is that frown lines never appear suddenly, but form over the course of several years. And for some, fortunately, never.
If friends ask you why you’re looking angry again when you don’t notice anything. Or if the wrinkles between your eyebrows bother you when you look in the mirror in the morning, then you should think about treatment. Better sooner than later. Because: The sooner you start, the easier and faster the wrinkles disappear again. This is equally true for other facial wrinkles such as chin wrinkles or bunny lines.
The good news: These frown lines can now be removed quickly and gently—without any surgery at all. The treatment that’s right for you depends mainly on how deep the lines already are. Here’s an overview of your options.
Since the frown line is an expression line, we treat it directly at its source: the muscle. A Botox treatment specifically relaxes the corrugator supercilii muscle and the procerus muscle in the glabella area between the eyebrows. Your skin smooths out and your facial expression regains its friendly appearance—without losing your natural facial expressions. The treatment takes only a few minutes, and you’ll see the full effect after about two weeks. It typically lasts several months and can easily be refreshed afterward.
If the wrinkle has been present for many decades, it has often become deeply etched into the skin and remains visible even when the muscle is relaxed. In such rare cases, we fill in the remaining groove with hyaluronic acid following a Botox treatment. We’ll determine whether this is appropriate for you during a personal consultation.
If you have fine lines or don’t want to get injections (yet), microneedling can improve skin quality and reduce the appearance of wrinkles. However, it doesn’t address the underlying cause—muscle movement.
And what about creams? Let’s be honest: no cream, no exercise, and no patch will help with an existing frown line. Skincare, sunscreen, and sunglasses can help prevent them from forming. But you can’t get rid of a wrinkle that’s already there.
Last updated: October 6, 2026
GoAesthetic
Center for aesthetic treatments
Address:
Magdalenenstraße 22/1
1060 Vienna
E-mail: kontakt@goaesthetic.at
Phone: 01/ 417 12 21
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