How this guide was made: researched from StatPearls medical references, the American Academy of Dermatology and the FDA. Drafted with AI help, then checked and edited by Anna. This guide is educational, not medical advice.
Welcome to Comfort Mind Body, where self-care starts with understanding your own body. Today, a quick anatomy lesson that explains a lot about your mirror.
Every time you look surprised, curious or worried, a muscle in your forehead goes to work. Over the years, its work starts to show. Once you know which muscle it is, the lines on your forehead make much more sense, and so do the fixes.
Want the bigger picture? My guide to the types of wrinkles on the face covers every area.
Quick Answer: What Muscle Causes Wrinkles Across the Forehead?
The frontalis muscle causes the horizontal wrinkles across your forehead. It's the only muscle that raises your eyebrows. When it contracts, it pulls the brows up and folds the forehead skin into lines. The vertical "11 lines" between your brows come from a different muscle, the corrugator supercilii, which pulls the brows together and down.
This page explains how these muscles work. If you're here for what to do about the lines, go straight to my guide on how to get rid of forehead wrinkles.
Your Forehead Muscle Map
Four muscles shape the lines around your forehead and eyes. One lifts your brows. Three pull them down. Wrinkles form at right angles to the muscle underneath, which is why each muscle leaves its own kind of line.
Which Muscle Makes Which Line
Swipe left or right to view the full table on mobile.
| Muscle | Where It Sits | What It Does | Line It Makes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frontalis | Across the forehead, from near the hairline down into the eyebrows. It's the front part of the occipitofrontalis, also called the epicranius. | Raises the eyebrows. It's the only muscle that does. It also pulls the scalp forward. | Horizontal forehead lines |
| Corrugator supercilii | Under the inner ends of the eyebrows | Pulls the brows together and down, as in a frown | Vertical "11 lines" between the brows |
| Procerus | At the top of the nose, between the brows | Pulls the brows down | Horizontal creases at the top of the nose |
| Orbicularis oculi | A ring around each eye | Closes the eye and squints. It also pulls the brows down. | Crow's feet. See how to remove wrinkles under your eyes. |
How A Fold Becomes A Line
The frontalis has no bone to pull on. It starts in a tough sheet of tissue near your hairline and attaches into the skin of your eyebrows. So when it contracts, it lifts the brows and bunches the forehead skin above them. It can also pull the scalp slightly forward. That bunching is the fold you see when you look surprised.
When you're young, the skin springs back as soon as the muscle relaxes. Over the years, three things slow that bounce:
- Repetition: the American Academy of Dermatology notes that repeated expressions can turn folds into lasting lines.
- Sun: UV light breaks down the collagen and elastin that help skin bounce back, and the forehead gets a lot of sun.
- Age: skin gets thinner and drier, so each fold stays a little longer.
That's why the same expression can leave no trace at 20 and a soft line at 35.
The Push And Pull Between Your Brow Muscles
Your brows sit where they do because of a tug of war. The frontalis pulls them up. The corrugator, procerus and orbicularis oculi pull them down. The balance between these muscles sets how high your brows sit and what shape they take.
This balance matters most when you treat lines with Botox. Relax the lifting muscle too much, and the lowering muscles win, so the brows can drop. That's why injectors often treat the frown muscles at the same time, and why the dose and placement need a trained hand.
The frontalis is controlled by the facial nerve, through a branch called the temporal branch. The nerves you feel in your forehead skin are different ones. They carry feeling, not movement.
Anna’s Note
I raise my brows all the time, especially in the sun. So when I learned it's one muscle doing all that lifting, my forehead lines suddenly made sense.
What This Means For Fixing Forehead Lines
Knowing the muscle explains why some fixes work on these lines and others don't. Here's the short version. The full how-to, with products and costs, is in my forehead wrinkles guide.
Botox Works On The Muscle
Botox and similar injections relax the frontalis, so it folds the skin less. Botox Cosmetic has been FDA-approved for forehead lines since 2017, and Xeomin since July 2024. The American Academy of Dermatology says results show in 3 to 7 days and last about 3 to 4 months, then the muscle works as before.
The goal is to soften the muscle, not freeze it. Treatment needs to account for the muscles that lift and lower your brows, and forehead lines are usually treated together with frown lines. Your clinician should assess that balance and explain the risk of brow or eyelid drooping. One small study also found that men's foreheads shorten more when the muscle contracts, so men may need a higher dose.
Creams Work On The Skin
No cream can reach or relax a muscle. What skincare can do is help the skin above it. Daily sunscreen slows the damage that stops skin from bouncing back. A retinoid can soften fine lines over months. Moisturizer makes dehydration lines fade fast.
Habits Work On The Fold
You can't stop using your frontalis, and you shouldn't try. But you can cut the extra folding. UV sunglasses and a hat reduce squinting and brow-raising in bright light. If you squint to read, an eye exam may help too.
What about training the muscle with face yoga? The research is thin, with small studies and no strong evidence for forehead lines. It's relaxing and low-risk, but it's not a proven fix.
Comfort Mind Body Take
Your frontalis isn't the enemy. It's how you show surprise, joy and curiosity. Protect the skin over it, cut the squinting, and save the muscle-relaxing options for lines that truly bother you.
FAQs
Final Thoughts
Forehead lines start with one hardworking muscle, the frontalis. Three others pull the other way and leave their own marks: 11 lines, creases at the top of the nose and crow's feet.
Knowing which is which helps you pick the right fix. Muscle lines respond to relaxing the muscle. Skin lines respond to sunscreen, moisture and time. For the full plan, read how to get rid of forehead wrinkles.
Your face moves because you feel things. Be gentle with the lines that come from that. For more honest routines, browse all our Skin & Beauty guides.
With care,
Anna
P.S. from Sushi: Mommy says one muscle lifts her eyebrows. I don't have eyebrows. I have whiskers, and they never wrinkle. Advantage: Sushi.
Safety Notes
This article is educational and not medical advice. Get Botox and similar injections only from a licensed provider trained in the procedure. Drooping brows or eyelids are a known side effect.
Call 911 or your local emergency number for sudden facial drooping or weakness, especially with arm weakness, trouble speaking or sudden vision changes. These can be signs of a stroke.
Helpful Resources
- StatPearls: Anatomy, Head And Neck, Frontalis Muscle
- StatPearls: Anatomy, Head And Neck, Glabella
- Kenhub: Frontalis Muscle, Anatomy And Function
- The PMFA Journal: Forehead Rhytides, Anatomy And Neuromodulator Treatment
- American Academy of Dermatology: Botulinum Toxin Therapy
- American Academy of Dermatology: 11 Ways To Reduce Premature Skin Aging
- Pharmacy Times: FDA Approves Botox Cosmetic For Forehead Lines (2017)
- Merz Aesthetics: FDA Approves Xeomin For Upper Facial Lines (2024)
- Harvard Health: Can Facial Exercises Reverse The Signs Of Aging?
