Bunny lines on the nose
The diagonal creases across the bridge of the nose — what causes them, why they sometimes appear after other treatment, and how they are treated.
Bunny lines are the diagonal creases that fan across the bridge of the nose when you scrunch it, laugh hard or smile broadly. They come from a small muscle called the nasalis, and they are one of the smallest treatments in aesthetics with a disproportionate effect on how a face reads in photographs.
What causes them
The nasalis muscle sits over the side of the nose and pulls upward and inward. Some people recruit it heavily when they smile or squint, and the skin over the bridge is thin, so the folding shows early.
Whether you get them is largely down to how you animate rather than how old you are. I see them in people in their twenties who scrunch when they laugh, and not at all in people twice that age who do not.
Why they sometimes appear after other treatment
This is the part worth knowing before you have anything done. When the frown lines between the brows are treated, some people unconsciously recruit the nasalis to compensate — the expression still wants to happen and finds another muscle to do it with. Bunny lines can appear, or become noticeably more obvious, for the first time.
It is not a complication and it is not a sign anything was done badly. It is a predictable consequence of changing how one muscle group behaves within a connected system. It is straightforward to treat when it happens, and I would rather you heard it from me beforehand than discovered a new line on your face and assumed something had gone wrong.
How they are treated
A very small dose either side of the nose, placed superficially. The technique matters more than the product: the levator muscles that lift the upper lip run close by, and product drifting into them produces a heavy or asymmetric smile that lasts until the treatment wears off.
So this is a small, precise treatment, and it is one where I would rather under-dose and review at two weeks than be bold.
When not to treat them
If bunny lines only appear when you scrunch your nose deliberately, and not in ordinary expression, they are not really a problem worth treating and I will say so.
If lines across the bridge are visible at rest, that is usually skin quality rather than muscle — thin, sun-damaged skin holding a crease — and relaxing the muscle will not do much for it. Skin-quality treatment does more.
Keeping expression
Nose scrunching is part of how many people laugh. Removing it entirely can make a face read as slightly flat in animation, in a way that is hard to name but easy to notice.
The aim here is softening rather than abolition, and it is worth saying out loud at consultation which of those you actually want.
Sources and further reading
This page is general information, not personal medical advice. Every treatment needs an individual assessment, and what is right for someone else may not be right for you.
About the author
Ashleigh Trickett
Registered Nurse & Aesthetic Practitioner
Registered Nurse with a BSc in Nursing and a PGCert in Critical Care (Manchester Metropolitan University, 2025). Ten years in the NHS, four of them in critical care. Advanced facial anatomy education at the Royal College of Surgeons with BAMAN, June 2026. Member of BAMAN and the Aesthetic Complications Expert Group. BAMAN Awards 2026 finalist for Rising Star of the Year.
Treatments this relates to
- Anti-Wrinkle InjectionsFrom £180
Wrinkle-relaxing treatment for the frown, forehead and crow's feet — dosed to soften movement, not remove it.
- Microneedling£150
Controlled micro-injury that prompts the skin to remodel — used for texture, scarring, pore size and overall quality.
Common questions
- Why did I get bunny lines after my frown treatment?
- Because the expression still wants to happen and recruits a neighbouring muscle to do it. It is common, predictable and easy to treat. It is not a sign that anything went wrong.
- How long does treating bunny lines last?
- Usually three to four months, in line with other facial areas. Some people find it lasts a little less because the muscle is small and active.
- Can treating bunny lines affect my smile?
- It can if product reaches the muscles that lift the upper lip, which is why placement matters and why the dose is small. Done correctly, your smile is unaffected.
- Are bunny lines a sign of ageing?
- Not particularly. They are more about how you animate than how old you are, and they show up in people in their twenties.
Read next
Anti-wrinkle
Treating forehead lines
Why the forehead is the area most often treated badly, what the eyebrow has to do with it, and the difference between lines that move and lines that have set.
Anti-wrinkle
Treating crow's feet
The lines at the outer eye — why keeping some of them is usually right, and why the ones under your eye need a different treatment entirely.
Anti-wrinkle
Lines around the mouth
Vertical lip lines — usually nothing to do with smoking, rarely fixed by one treatment, and one of the hardest areas to treat well.
Get in touch
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Consultations are £30, and that comes off the cost of your treatment if you go ahead. No pressure to book anything on the day — if you are not sure whether you want treatment at all, that is still a good reason to come and talk.