Eye Twitches: When is it Serious?

Eye Twitches:

When is it Serious?

BY TRACY WRIGHT | ILLUSTRATION BY MEGAN SAPELAK

Who hasn’t been working on a screen too much lately? After a while, you may notice your eye begin to twitch involuntarily. This condition takes on different forms from benign cases to more complicated conditions that can be tied to complicated disorders.

Eyelid twitching is a benign condition known as ocular myokymia disorder in which the muscles on one side of your face twitch that typically occurs when you are tired or stressed, have had too involuntarily. Hemifacial spasm is most often caused by a blood vessel much caffeine or alcohol, or have an irritation of the touching a facial nerve, but it may be caused by a facial eye surface. You may feel your upper eyelid begin nerve injury or a tumor, or it may not have a cause,” to twitch and you may experience other symptoms said the Mayo Clinic. like a higher rate of blinking, irritation or dry eyes. Getting more According to Mayo Clinic, frequent eyelid twitching is pretty common and may recur over a period of a few hours or days. Eyelid twitching can also be caused by sleep, reducing stress, wearing When eye twitching is a mild and benign condition, getting more sleep, reducing stress, wearing sunglasses when in extreme light, using eye drops and decreasing corneal abrasion, dry eyes or sensitivity to light. sunglasses caffeine may be enough to stop or curtail eye twitching. when in extreme If the condition is more severe, your doctor may Eye twitching that begins as frequent blinking of both light, using recommend botulinum toxin injections into muscles eyes is known as benign essential blepharospasm and eye drops and around your eye, according to the American Academy can be very serious. Scientists believe it is due to a movement disorder of the muscles around the eye, the Mayo Clinic says. The cause is not certain but can be decreasing caffeine may be of Ophthalmology (AAO). This usually provides temporary relief. tied to a problem in the brain known as basal ganglia. enough to stop If injections and other medications do not provide or curtail eye long term relief, surgery may be the only option. For Other conditions of the brain or nervous system twitching. essential blepharospasm, surgeons may either remove may cause eye twitching like Parkinson’s Disease, the facial muscle causing spasms or the part of the Bell’s Palsy, dystonia, multiple sclerosis or Tourette nerve that causes them, the AAO said. syndrome. The good news is that most people’s eye twitches are When eye twitching becomes more frequent or disrupts your life, typically not serious and can be eased with some lifestyle changes or it is probably time to see your health care provider. They will do restrictions. But if it does become more severe or hampers with your a physical and ask about your symptoms. You will most likely be life, seeing your eye doctor is the best bet. referred to an ophthalmologist who may diagnose benign essential blepharospasm or a hemifacial spasm, which is “a nervous system