Forehead Wrinkles: Causes and Treatments

Wrinkles are lines that form on your skin, similar to creases in a shirt that needs ironing. They are a natural part of the body’s aging process. These lines and creases are most likely to form on the skin that's often exposed to the sun, such as the face, neck, hands, and forearms. Pollutants and smoking also speed the aging process. While wrinkles are a normal part of aging and don’t necessarily need treatment, many options are available to help smooth them or make them less visible if they bother you.

What are Wrinkles?

Wrinkles are lines that form on your skin. Similar to the creases in a shirt that needs ironing, wrinkles can form on your skin - most often on your face, neck, hands, and arms. They can look like folds or ridges on your skin. Wrinkles are a natural part of your body’s aging process. If you look at the palm of your hand, you have lines in your skin. As you age, lines like those in your palm will form on other parts of your body’s skin.

Symptoms of Wrinkles

Symptoms of wrinkles include:

• Lines, creases, or folds on your skin.
• Loose or droopy skin.
• Wrinkles are apparent when you’re at rest, but they may become more noticeable when you move your facial muscles by smiling or frowning.

Where Wrinkles Appear

Wrinkles can appear anywhere on your skin but are most common on your:

• Face.
• Hands.
• Neck.
• Arms.
• Legs.

The Causes of Forehead Wrinkles

Forehead wrinkles are horizontal lines across your forehead that first appear when you are actively making facial expressions. Forehead wrinkles are caused by the action of the frontalis muscle on the forehead. This muscle contracts when we raise our eyebrows. The raising of the frontalis muscle pulls the skin of the forehead up and causes forehead wrinkles which appear as lines across our forehead.

Read also: Hairstyles to Conceal a High Forehead

Slow skin cell production, thinning skin layers, and a lack of collagen proteins cause wrinkles to form on your skin.

Several factors contribute to the onset of wrinkles, including:

Aging

Wrinkles are a by-product of the aging process. As people age, skin cells divide more slowly, and the middle layer of your skin - the dermis - begins to thin. The dermis has a network of elastin and collagen fibers, which offer support and elasticity. As this network loosens and unravels with time, depressions form on your skin’s surface. Aging skin is also less able to retain moisture, less efficient in secreting oil, and slower to heal. All of these factors contribute to the development of wrinkles. With aging, the skin naturally becomes less elastic and drier, with less fat and collagen in the deeper layers. This process results in the lines and creases typical of wrinkling.

As you get older, your skin cells divide slowly, which causes the outer layer of your skin to thin and wrinkles to form. You also lose about 1% of your collagen each year starting in your 30s.

Facial Muscle Contractions

Lines on your forehead, between your eyebrows (frown lines), and jutting from the corners of your eyes (crow's feet) develop because of small muscle contractions. Smiling, frowning, squinting, and other habitual facial expressions cause wrinkles to become more prominent. Over time, these expressions coupled with gravity contribute to the formation of wrinkles. Facial movements and expressions lead to fine lines and wrinkles. For example, every time you squint, smile, and frown, tiny grooves form beneath the surface of the skin. As skin ages, it loses its flexibility and can no longer spring back.

Read also: Is Facial Waxing Right for You?

You use the facial muscles in your body to smile, frown, or squint. Over time, these muscles cause frown lines between your eyebrows and crow’s feet at the corners of your eyes because of weakened fat or bone mass and the effects of gravity on your skin. Human expressions are learnt from family, friends and the people we encounter in our lives, we may raise our eyebrows to show interest in something or when we are surprised. In our early thirties we may notice that the lines are present on our forehead, even when we are not expressing or raising our eyebrows, this is because, the skin is like any material, over time, if it is folded in one way, repeatedly it will leave a permanent mark, constant wrinkling of the skin tends to form a deeper line.

Sun Damage

Excessive exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun can result in premature aging of your skin, also known as photoaging. Exposure to UV light breaks down collagen fibers and leads to the production of abnormal elastin. When ultraviolet light damages skin tissue, your body produces an enzyme called metalloproteinase. This enzyme creates and reforms collagen. During the process, however, some healthy collagen fibers receive damage, resulting in solar elastosis - the disorganized formation of fibers. Wrinkles develop when the rebuilding process occurs over and over, less efficiently each time. Ultraviolet radiation from sunlight and other sources speeds the skin's aging process, especially in people who tend to sunburn easily. It breaks down the elastin fibers and collagen in skin. Exposing your skin to the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays can cause your skin to age prematurely. The sun can damage collagen in your skin, which provides the elasticity and flexibility your skin needs to prevent wrinkles.

Smoking

Healthy skin constantly regenerates. Old collagen breaks down and removes itself from your body, which makes room for new collagen. Researchers found that smoking causes a reduction in the production of new collagen. Decreased collagen results in the development of wrinkles. Tobacco products cause your body to slow down its production of collagen. Too little collagen causes wrinkles. Nicotine causes blood vessels to constrict and therefore reducing blood supply to the skin. The reduced blood supply means the skin is under stress and more harmful free radicals are produced which can alter the DNA of the skin and slow down the replenishing of collagen and elastin. Smokers tend to age quicker than non-smokers and their skin can appear dry, with a loss of its natural bounce.

Environmental Factors

Toxins in the air can cause your body’s collagen to break down as they enter your pores. The most common ones in your environment that cause wrinkles include:

• Particulate matter: Particulate matter is a mixture of microscopic solids and liquids in the air. It's things like dirt, dust, and smoke.
• Soot: Soot is a carbon-based microscopic, solid material that forms when something burns. Soot occurs in the environment from vehicle exhaust and manufacturing facilities.
• Nitrogen dioxide: Nitrogen dioxide is a gas that exists in the environment. It’s most common near vehicles, industrial manufacturing facilities, construction sites, and in some lawn and garden equipment.

Other Factors

Other factors that can contribute to wrinkle formation include:

Read also: Flattering haircuts for large foreheads

• Family history: Family history also plays a role.
• Stress: Research has found that external and internal stress can cause detrimental "formations" in one’s skin.
• Dehydration: Dehydration causes skin to dry out, increasing the likelihood of wrinkles and other blemishes developing.

Does Makeup Cause Wrinkles?

If you don’t remove makeup, it can clog your pores, which restricts your body’s ability to produce collagen proteins. This could cause premature aging and wrinkles if you never remove your makeup. It’s important to remove makeup at the end of the day with a cleanser to make sure your pores are clean to prevent wrinkles. If you forget to take off your makeup a few times before you go to bed, it’s OK, but habitually leaving makeup on can damage your skin by clogging your pores.

Does Caffeine Cause Wrinkles?

While research is still ongoing to understand more about how caffeine - including coffee - affects your skin, caffeine has some benefits to your skincare routine that are short term. This means that caffeine can temporarily change the appearance of wrinkles, but long-term use of caffeine products doesn’t cure wrinkles.

Treatment Options for Wrinkles

Since wrinkles are a normal part of your body’s aging process, they don’t need treatment. Treatment isn’t necessary for wrinkles, but it’s an option if you want to improve your appearance. Anyone who has wrinkles can get treatment if they choose to do so. You may choose treatment for wrinkles if you don’t like how they look on your skin. Treatment helps smooth your skin and lessens the appearance of wrinkles to give you a more youthful look.

If you don't like how wrinkles look on your skin, there are treatment options available to cosmetically improve your appearance.

Topical Treatments

• Retinoids: Retinoids that include retinol, retinal aldehyde (Retin-A), retinyl esters, adapalene, tazarotene, and tretinoin are chemicals that come from vitamin A that help reduce lines and wrinkles in your skin and improve your skin’s texture, pigment, and hydration levels. You can find retinol in many over-the-counter skin care products. Retinol can penetrate deep into your skin’s layers to activate collagen and elastin, which give your skin structure and support to prevent wrinkles. You can apply products that contain retinoids at home directly onto your skin as you would a lotion or a moisturizer. Check with your healthcare provider to make sure products that include retinoids are right for you.
• Hyaluronic acid: It attracts and retains water molecules to hydrate and plump the skin, helping to smooth fine lines and wrinkles. Since it’s applied topically in serums and moisturizers, it doesn’t stimulate the actual production of collagen and elastin.
• Vitamin C: Vitamin C is an antioxidant that protects the skin from these free radicals, helping to prevent the collagen loss they cause.
• Peptides: A great way to help address the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles is to support the skin’s natural production of collagen and elastin.
• Sunscreen: Since UV rays speed up the breakdown of collagen and elastin, you should apply sunscreen every morning - even when spending time indoors since sunshine can stream in through windows.

Procedures Performed by Professionals

• Micro-needling: Micro-needling, or skin needling, is a facial rejuvenation procedure that uses a device with several tiny needles that poke you to create a miniature wound in the top layer of your skin (epidermis). This wound heals within minutes and causes new collagen and elastin to form as your skin heals. Micro-needling is effective at improving wrinkles or fine lines in your skin. Just as the name sounds, microneedling uses tiny needles to puncture the skin, which stimulates growth of new collagen and elastin. This works best for fine, shallow lines in the forehead.
• Microdermabrasion: Microdermabrasion gently removes or sands away thick or uneven outer layers of your skin. This treatment is best to treat scarring or stretch marks, skin discoloration, or sun damage. Microdermabrasion uses a machine tip to automatically remove dead skin cells and uses the principle of exfoliation to improve the texture of the skin.
• Dermabrasion: Dermabrasion scrapes away layers of your skin. This treatment removes skin layers to reduce wrinkles or irregular skin depressions. This helps you regain smoother, more youthful-looking skin.
• Chemical peels: Chemical peels dissolve skin imperfections using small amounts of a chemical solution. The solution removes the top layers of your skin and makes room for new, healthy skin to grow in its place. In this procedure, a chemical solution containing glycolic acid, salicylic acid, or trichloroacetic acid is applied to the skin’s surface to induce damage to the top layer. As the damaged, wrinkled layer peels away, new, youthful, smoother skin is revealed. Chemical peels are best to treat wrinkles, skin discoloration, or scars. Light chemical peels can last one to two months, but medium peels can last three to four months. Chemical peels and laser treatments can help to improve the quality of the skin by promoting the peeling away of top layers of dead skin cells and by tapping into the skin’s natural healing mechanism.
• Laser skin resurfacing: Laser skin resurfacing reduces facial wrinkles and irregularities caused by sun damage or acne. This treatment works similar to a chemical peel but uses lasers to deliver a very precise amount of heat and energy to the skin for more controlled damage. The laser technique directs short, concentrated pulsating beams of light at sections of your skin. As skin heals itself, new collagen is created and patients begin to see a tighter, smoother forehead. Some laser treatments, such as CO2, remove the skin’s layers via vaporization. While results of laser resurfacing can be seen after just one session, multiple sessions may be necessary for a youthful, wrinkle-free appearance.
  • You're an ideal candidate for laser skin resurfacing if you have:
    • Fine lines under or around your eyes, forehead, or mouth.
    • Wrinkles under or around your eyes, forehead, or mouth.
    • Scars from acne.
  • If you have active acne, you should wait until your acne is well controlled before pursuing laser treatment. Laser resurfacing is generally better suited for fair-skinned individuals, as people with dark skin have a higher risk of their skin tone darkening (hyperpigmentation) with certain treatments.
• Botulinum toxin type A injection therapy: Neuromodulators or wrinkle-relaxing treatments, like Botox®, are medicines derived from the botulinum toxin. They block the chemical signals that cause your muscles to contract. Botox is a muscle relaxant which is injected into the frontalis muscle on the forehead. This causes relaxation of the muscle for a three month period, thus reducing the upward movement of the eyebrow and stopping the skin from wrinkling. It helps smooth forehead wrinkles. Your healthcare provider will inject these medicines into the muscles whose contractions cause wrinkles, such as between your eyebrows (frown lines) and the lines that extend from the corners of your eyes (crow's feet). When muscles move over time, they get bigger. Injectable neurotoxins work by relaxing those muscles, which in turn smooths the skin around them. Botox is the most well-known neurotoxin, but other products work just as well depending on skin condition and aesthetic goals.
• Fillers: Wrinkles that remain at rest may require filler to fill in or lift skin with deep wrinkles. Prominent folds around your mouth, nose, and chin are the most commonly treated. Filling the wrinkles with hyaluronic acid provides volume that makes the skin smooth and flat. Hyaluronic acid, a naturally occurring sugar polymer, is the most common filler.
• Facelift: A facelift is a surgical procedure where your healthcare provider will remove excess skin and fat from your face and neck. Your provider will also tighten the muscular and connective tissue layers to reduce the appearance of wrinkles.

Lifestyle Adjustments

• Protect your skin from UV radiation: Avoid indoor tanning and limit the time you spend in the sun, especially midday. When you're in the sun, wear sun-protective clothing, such as wide-brimmed hats, long-sleeved shirts, and sunglasses. Also, use sunscreen every day year-round. Choose a broad-spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of at least 30, even on cloudy days. Apply sunscreen generously. One of the best ways to diminish harmful aging effects of the sun is to avoid long-term exposure to bright sunlight, as well as using topical anti-UV products such a sunscreens. Daily sun protection in the form of SPF is an absolute must to help protect skin from harmful UV rays that can accelerate the aging process and contribute to wrinkles.
• Wash your face and moisturize: Dry skin shrivels plump skin cells, which can lead to fine lines and wrinkles. Make it a habit to gently wash your face and moisturize it every day. Moisturizers often have active ingredients that are intended to reduce fine lines and wrinkles. Look for ingredients such as retinol, niacinamide, and vitamin C. Many such products also come with a broad-spectrum sunscreen in them. Read the product labels for when and how to apply. After sunscreen, hydration is the next most important step to letting your skin achieve that crème-de-la-crème texture.
• Don't smoke:
• Eat a healthy diet: There is some evidence that certain vitamins in your diet help protect the skin. Try to become consciously aware of the time that you may be raising your eyebrows. Antioxidants are present in fruit, vegetables and vitamins such as vitamins A, C and E. Antioxidants can help improve skin health by getting rid of compounds in our skin called free radicals which can harmfully affect the way the skin repairs itself. If the skin is not repairing itself effectively and creating new skin cells, it can lose essential proteins such as collagen and elastin which give our skin its youthful, springy and smooth feel. A diet rich in antioxidants, vitamins C and E, and omega-3 fatty acids can help protect the skin from free radical damage and promote collagen production. Foods like berries, leafy greens, nuts, and fatty fish can contribute to healthier, more resilient skin that’s less prone to wrinkling.
• Stay hydrated: An adequate water intake is important in maintaining healthy and vibrant skin. Dehydration causes skin to dry out, increasing the likelihood of wrinkles and other blemishes developing. To maintain skin health it is important to drink plenty of water and keep your body well hydrated. Aim to drink eight glasses of pure water per day.
• Limit alcohol consumption: Drinking alcohol increases your body’s cortisol levels, which is released in the body in response to stress. High cortisol levels and dehydration can affect the skin’s ability to regenerate and repair itself, decreasing levels of collagen in the skin, one of the most important proteins for skin health. Keeping alcohol within government recommended limits can help to improve skin health and prevent early lines and wrinkles including forehead wrinkles.
• Manage stress: Work anti-stress relievers into your routine. Try daily morning meditations, posture exercises (stress can change the way you carry your body), or changing up your diet.

When to See a Doctor

If you're concerned about how your skin looks, see a doctor who specializes in the skin. This type of expert is called a dermatologist. You will find a lot of OTC products that aim to reduce those forehead wrinkles. If those OTC products don’t seem to work, then it may be a good time to visit a trusted dermatologist. When you consult with one, expect them to take a thorough examination of your face.

Who is a Good Candidate for Wrinkle Treatments?

Treatment is an option if you want to improve your appearance. Anyone who has wrinkles can get treatment if they choose to do so. The most common age group that seeks treatment to reduce wrinkles are people between the ages of 40 to 55. You may choose treatment for wrinkles if you don’t like how they look on your skin. Treatment helps smooth your skin and lessens the appearance of wrinkles to give you a more youthful look.

Common Misconceptions and Additional Considerations

• Forehead wrinkles and heart health: According to researcher Yolande Esquirol, the deeper the forehead wrinkles, the higher the risk of cardiovascular disease. The theory is that the blood vessels around the forehead have plaque build-up, causing deepened, hardened wrinkles. However, science has yet to prove that this is the case. Plus, removing your wrinkles isn’t the answer to preventing heart disease. Currently, anecdotal evidence suggests that the more likely connection is this: deep forehead wrinkles are a reflection of lifestyle factors (age, unhealthy diet, stress, etc.) that contribute to higher cardiovascular risk.
• The inevitability of wrinkles: Forehead wrinkles - and all the other fine lines and wrinkles, for that matter - are inevitable. In fact, only 20% of most visible skin aging is from the natural aging process.
• The importance of consistency: Topical cosmetic options require commitment and consistent use to see noticeable results.

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