.Blepharospasm 101: Causes, Types, and Management

Blepharospasm, commonly known as eyelid twitching or tics, refers to the involuntary and repetitive jerking of your eyelids. While you may often experience this sensation, it may indicate a more serious problem. Let your trusted optometrist from Six One Six Vision Center explain this condition for your understanding.

Causes

Eyelid spasms happen when your basal ganglion, the muscle-controlling part of the brain, develops abnormalities. While this problem’s root cause remains unidentified, a number of factors may contribute to its development. Constant stress, fatigue, and lack of sleep may force your eyes to work twice as hard, leading to their twitching.

Too much alcohol, caffeine, or physical exertion may also result in eyelid tics. Computer eye strain, dry eyes, and recurring eye allergies may cause your eyes to jerk regularly as well. According to your expert eye doctor, this condition may indicate underlying brain disorders too, like Bell’s palsy, dystonia, Parkinson’s disease, or Tourette’s syndrome.

Types

Blepharospasm has three general types. Eyelid twitch (myokymia) pertains to minor eyelid jerking, affecting only either the upper or lower eyelid of one eye at a time. It usually goes away on its own after some time. The essential blepharospasm, on the other hand, happens when your ocular muscles cause your eyes to blink faster than normal, eventually leading to their total closure and your temporary loss of vision. Lastly, the hemifacial spasm occurs when the muscles on one side of your face cause your eye to involuntarily close. This may also affect a part of your neck, mouth, and cheek on the same side.

Management

Management of blepharospasm depends on its causative factor, which is why it’s best to see our reliable optometrists for a thorough assessment. If we find working long hours on the computer makes your eyes twitch, for example, we may advise better time management or wearing computer eyeglasses when doing so. For more severe cases, we may prescribe muscle-relaxing medications or perform necessary surgeries.

If you have any further questions on eyelid spasms, call us at (208) 514-1858 or complete our form. We serve Eagle, Meridian, and nearby Idaho areas.

COVID-19

To our Six One Six Vision Center Families,

Our office is fully open to serve your eye care needs. We cannot wait to see you in our office again! With the health and safety of our team and patients at the forefront of our minds, the following changes have taken place while we all do our part to fight this pandemic:

We ask that if you are experiencing a fever, shortness of breathe, or a cough that you reschedule your visit at this time.

We are asking our patients to complete as much of the typical intake paperwork and collecting of insurance information electronically to reduce the amount of team members they need to be exposed to at the office.

We have very strict cleanliness procedures for anyone who comes in to our office at every point of their visit to lower risk of potential infection.

Now more than ever, we need to take care of ourselves, our families, and our communities as best we can, while practicing safe social distancing recommendations. We will get through these difficult times together, and I promise you our office and our team will be here to support you as best we can during these changes, and will be even stronger once we can return to normal care.

Be well, stay strong, take care of each other.

– Six One Six Vision Center Team

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