For the past several years I have had a facial twitch, sometimes to the point my face gets pretty well contorted. I have mentioned it to y Dr. and all he says is Hmmm. Has anyone had any luck correcting this. I am pretty sure mine is nervous related. Sometimes it disappears entirely. It seems to start in left eye and work its way down toward my mouth and chin depending on how bad it is acting up.
How frequently? Any situations where it is more likely to happen?
I have facial twitches on the regular, usually later in the day. But I have a tic disorder, so I do other things besides twitch.
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Try some magnesium, most people are lacking. Calcium is responsible for muscle contraction and magnesium is responsible for muscle relaxation. Get a good absorbable form, not cheapo magnesium oxide which is used in laxatives because it mostly passes through you rather than being absorbed. You can used Natural Calm which is a powder you mix with water or get some pills. I like magnesium malate but other good ones are citrate, taurate and glycinate.
If you get the pills, take them with a meal that has protein, the acid is needed to absorb these properly.
Second on magnesium. I recommend citrate because it’s been safe for me to not be nauseous (common side effect of magnesium). YMMV.
My son has transient tic disorder, which is surprisingly common in boys under 15. He’s had it since he was maybe 8 and he’s 12 now. It can get pretty distracting for him at school to the point where he finds it hard to focus or do work, particularly given that his tics often involve his eyes, so his doctor recommended I give him a stress ball to re-direct the tics. It doesn’t make it go away, but at least it gives him a way to manage the tics that’s not so distracting to him or others.
Other things we do include relaxation (which sounds silly, but guided relaxation techniques really seem to help) and also avoid TV, particularly during the school week. When he’s watching TV the tics can get especially bad, so limiting screen time really seems to help; that and being active and making sure he gets enough sleep.
Tourettes?
A competent medical workup (not limited to “Hmm”) would look at differential diagnoses and medications, some of which cause involuntary movements.
I just got emailed a mystery case by Medscape of a more extreme example, which turned out to be lupus-related.
I get this from time to time, usually because I am pushing myself too hard. Dialling back the caffeine, staying hydrated, getting a bit more sleep or taking the odd nap, usually makes it go away.
Have you been going through any stress? Yes, I meant that as a friendly question. I’m wondering if this is a good time to take time to recharge and focus on yourself.
I am not surprised by the doc’s “hmm.” I’m a medical interpreter and have heard plenty of “hmm’s” about my own stuff over the years. Western docs are just not very good at tackling subtle issues, is what it comes down to.
Anyhow, I think the idea of trying minerals is a good one.
I’ve had twitches from time to time, and last year I had a bad one that was causing my face and neck muscles to twitch quite a bit. Eventually it just went away. I bet yours will too. The human body is a weird system.
Could it be HFS, hemifacial spasms? I posted the two threads belowsome time back. I had HFS for 8 years. I tried many different treatments until I finally found the right way (for me) to correct it. I’ve been cured since June 2012.
Anybody Suffering with HFS? (Hemifacial Spasm) — Anybody Suffering with HFS? (Hemifacial Spasm) - In My Humble Opinion (IMHO) - Straight Dope Message Board
Anybody Suffering with TN? (Trigeminal Neuralgia) Also HFS (Hemifacial Spasm) — https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=824211
(FYI, TN and HFS have the same route cause)
ETA: on rereading your OP, HoneyBadger, what you describe is consistent with HFS.
Hello, HoneyBadgerDC, have you had any good progress in figuring out what is causing your twitch or muscle spasms?
No but it does seem stress related. yesterday it was real bad in the afternoon but I didn’t have it all during the day. There also seems to be a connection to not sleeping.
The stress that causes this is the type of stress that goes along with having commitments and unfinished business. If I agree to do something or make something for someone I start feeling the stress immediately even if I have a very wide margin of time to get it done. It seems like this didn’t start until after I retired several years ago. I have always had commitments but I guess I never stressed over them the way I do now. Possibly it could be the level of expectations that are going along with the commitments. This has increased considerably and has gotten to the point I think I will soon be retiring from making bows and arrows for people. I do it strictly as a hobby so no money is involved. I feel like if a bow doesn’t break a flight record if have let them down.
I’m sorry to hear this, about both the spasms and the stress. If the stress leads to the muscle spasms, and if there seems to be a direct correlation between high stress and onset of spasms, you may want to see a neurologist and have him/her take a look at you.
In my case, the blood pumping through an artery that was close to a particular cranial nerve irritated that nerve and caused the muscles to spasm on only one side of my face – hence, called hemifacial spasms or HFS. HFS may be stress induced, even though mine was not.
A cautionary note, based on my experience: some neurologists tried prescribing meds for me. I did not like that idea, because the problem was so focused on one area of my body, and yet the meds would be throughout my entire system. Didn’t make sense, not to me anyway, and I’m not a doc – why a systemic solution (or proposed solution) to such a localized problem? The meds helped, a little and some helped more than that, but the side effects were not helpful.
I had HFS for 8 years and also tried acupuncture (it was suggested by one neurologist!). That did not help me, either, but it might be part of the solution to your situation.
I hope you solve this (and I really hope you’re able to de-stress!). Please let us know how it goes, if you feel like sharing more. Thanks.
Thanks for the reply, mine is the same as yours, affects only the left side of my face. What you said about the artery was interesting. I have also noticed that on occasion I can hear the blood rushing through one of my arteries and even hear the heart beating as it pumps. That usually only lasts for a few minutes.