Why Do My Eyes Twitch?

Have you ever experienced an involuntary movement of your eyelid that feels like a quick, repetitive twitching or spasm? If so, you’re not alone. Eye twitching, also known as eyelid myokymia, is a common condition that affects many people at some point in their lives. While it’s usually not a cause for concern, frequent or prolonged episodes of eye twitching can be a sign of an underlying issue. In this article, we’ll explore the causes of eyes twitching, as well as the various treatment and prevention options that are available to help alleviate this annoying and sometimes uncomfortable condition.

Myokymia is the medical term for what we call “eye twitching”.

The muscle that closes the eyelids is called the orbicularis oculi. It is a significant muscle that is connected to a very sensitive set of nerves.

When we say our eyes twitch, we usually refer to this eyelid muscle twitching, although the muscles that physically move the eyeball can also twitch.

These muscle contractions, which some call “rippling,” usually affect one eye’s lower lid, but the upper lid can also twitch.

What causes this?

The most common cause is dryness or irritation. However, we have also seen that stress, fatigue, caffeine, alcohol, allergies, nutritional imbalances, and lack of sleep can cause twitching as well.

Essentially, the blink reflex gets temporarily short-circuited by either of these causes.

There are, however, more dangerous causes of eye twitching, most of which involve compression of the nerves that innervate the face. Common eye twitching is usually unrelated to these conditions which may affect the eyelid (i.e. blepharospasm or hemifacial spasm). These neurological conditions are much less common and should be diagnosed and treated by an eye doctor.

How long until this goes away?

Most of these twitches will come and go, however, we have seen that sometimes the twitching can last for weeks or some have mentioned it has lasted for months.

What should I do?

We recommend seeing an eye doctor to evaluate if you have the symptoms.

The questions your doctor will ask you are:

• Do both of your eyes twitch, or just one?
• Does your mouth or lower face ever twitch with your eye(s)?
• Do you drink a lot of water?
• Do you get enough sleep?
• Do you drink a lot of coffee, soda, or caffeine?

Call us today at (+632) 7-368 5238 l (+63) 917 862 7454 l (+63) 921 217 0517 or talk to our consultants via LiveChat here on our website, if you are noticing significant twitching and would like to have one of our eye doctors take a look.