An eye twitch is an automatic blinking of your eyelid that you can’t control. This abnormal blinking may happen many times per day. If eye twitching is severe, it can cause problems with your eyesight.
The eye twitching is annoying but seldom serious. Although this condition generally resolves on its own, learning what triggers it can lessen its frequency and duration. Herbal or nutritional supplements can help alleviate symptoms and contribute to general eye health.
What is eye twitching:
If your eye suddenly starts twitching or flickering, don’t panic. Panicking may only make it worse. This involuntary muscle contraction is called eyelid myokymia, oracular myokymia, or simply benign eyelid twitch. It is a common occurrence for many at some point in their lives, often in young, healthy people.
The major symptom of eyelid myokymia is a continuous, fine, and involuntary contraction of the upper or lower eyelid. Although it may feel very noticeable, the contractions are so fine that they are generally not visible to other people. While the eyelid twitches, it doesn’t completely close. It generally affects only one eye, but some people may experience bilateral flickering.
Untreated, oracular myokymia can last from several minutes to several hours. For some people, it goes away quickly; for others, it reoccurs intermittently over days or months before stopping.
If the twitching is chronic, affects both eyes, and involves eyelid closure, it’s likely a condition called benign essential blepharospasm, a potentially more serious condition seen most often in women aged 50 and over.
What causes eye twitching?
- Stress: We’re a hectic society. Modern life presents any number of stressful triggers, from work deadlines and traffic woes to busy social calendars to caring for children or parents (and sometimes both at the same time).
- Sleep hygiene: Getting too little rest, not sticking to a regular sleep schedule and other poor sleep habits also can exacerbate our stress.
- Caffeine: When we’re stressed or tired, it’s easier to lean on coping mechanisms like extra coffee, which can perpetuate the cycle.
- Alcohol: Many people have a drink or two with dinner. But when this turns into binge drinking, excessive alcohol consumption can cause many issues, including deficiencies in nutrients such as vitamin B, and trigger twitches and other effects on the eyes.
- Tobacco: Smoking can cause damage to nearly every organ in the body and it increases your risk for a number of diseases, including several eye conditions. (Ready to quit tobacco? Start here.)
- Digital eye strain: We spend much of our modern lives tethered to digital devices, from smartphones and tablets to computer screens and TVs, and all of this focused screen time can take a toll on our vision and eye muscles in many ways.
- Dry eye disease: If your eyes are persistently dry, you may experience several symptoms, including eye twitching. Dry eyes can get particularly bad during winter when indoor heating has a drying effect on your eyes.
- Seasonal allergies: It’s not just winter, though. Spring and fall allergies also can affect the eyes, in some of the same ways as dry eye disease.
- Environment: This can include bright lights, and wind or air pollution.
- Foreign bodies in the eye: Anything stuck in the eye that causes irritation can also cause twitching. This could be as simple as an eyelash or even a stitch from a previous surgery that did not dissolve.
Symptoms of eye twitching
Eye twitching varies from person to person. In most cases, only the upper eyelid twitches. Your eyelid may only partly shut, or it may fully close. You may have twitching every few seconds, or just a few times a day. Twitching may last for a few days or more and then go away for a while. Your eye twitching may happen more often over time, and not go away. Or the symptoms may go away and not come back.
You may have other symptoms such as:
- Eye irritation or pain
- Blinking faster
- Eyes feel sensitive to light
- Dry eyes
- Trouble seeing normally, if twitching happens often
- Spasms of facial muscles
Other things may cause symptoms, such as:
- Feeling very tired or weak
- Stress
- Bright lights
- Driving
- Caffeine
- Eye irritation from another cause
Treatment for eye twitching
You may not need any treatment if you don’t have terrible symptoms. You may be told to get enough sleep and reduce the amount of caffeine in your diet. Or you may be given medicine to treat eye twitching. It may help reduce symptoms for a short period of time. You may also need treatment for any health condition that is causing your eye twitching, such as Parkinson’s disease.
If eye twitching is severe and doesn’t stop, it can cause lasting (permanent) damage to your eye area.
This can cause problems like:
- Upper eyelids that hang lower than normal
- Eyebrows that hang lower than normal
- Extra skin on the upper or lower eyelid
- Eyelids that fold inward
- Muscle spasms in other parts of the body, like the jaw or neck
How to manage eye twitching
If your eyes sometimes twitch, you can take steps to reduce your symptoms. Make sure to:
- Limit caffeine
- Get enough sleep
- Reduce your stress
- Use eye drops if you have eye irritation
- Wear sunglasses when needed
Conclusion:
If the twitching is accompanied by redness, swelling, or discharge or results in complete closure of the eye, see an eye care professional. In Eye mantra, there is a lot of eye professional that you may consult for your eye problems. Please call Eye mantra Center at 91-8851044355 or e-mail on eyemantra1@gmail.com and schedule an eye fixed exam or schedule a meeting online. Because your vision is our mission and Eye mantra is Indian’s top hospital chains.
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