# Whats the Physiology behind a "Twitchy" eye-lid?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-physiology-behind-a-twitchy-eye-lid/212405>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 10, 2003, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-physiology-behind-a-twitchy-eye-lid/212405 "2003-11-10T15:15:24Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2003, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-physiology-behind-a-twitchy-eye-lid/212405/1 "2003-11-10T15:15:24Z")

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About two weeks ago I started to get a twitch or spasm in my eye lid. It happens ever so often. It does not distort my vision or anything like that, but it does get annoying. Does anyone know what this is? It’s happened before but I would like to know the physiology causing it. Could it be stress?

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**Author:** ![milk\_milk\_lemonade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecccb3/32.png) [@milk\_milk\_lemonade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/milk_milk_lemonade)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2003, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-physiology-behind-a-twitchy-eye-lid/212405/2 "2003-11-10T15:31:52Z")

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I don’t know what causes it (in terms of anatomy) but I often get this.

Sometimes my eyelid twitches, sometimes it’s the bridge of my nose, sometimes my thumb.

Too many late nights and/or stress cause it for me, the opposite cures it!

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**Author:** ![Aankh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@Aankh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aankh)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2003, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-physiology-behind-a-twitchy-eye-lid/212405/3 "2003-11-10T15:49:07Z")

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I remember there’s a medical condition referring to persistent eyelid tics.

_goes off to google it_

It’s called [myokymia](http://www.emedicine.com/oph/topic607.htm). Stress does seem to be a precipitating factor.

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**Author:** ![slipster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@slipster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slipster)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2003, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-physiology-behind-a-twitchy-eye-lid/212405/4 "2003-11-10T16:47:17Z")

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An eyelid twitch can definitely be related to stress. My own experience over a period of several decades is that I have only experienced this during periods of sustained crisis.

My doctor taught me a trick. This procedure may be a bit hard to pcicture, but one can often stop such twitching by placing the tip of your finger against the skin just to the outside of the eye, and then gently pulling so that the skin stretches away from the eye.

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**Author:** ![bughunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@bughunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bughunter)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2003, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-physiology-behind-a-twitchy-eye-lid/212405/5 "2003-11-10T17:47:44Z")

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I asked my doctor (gee, what a concept!) about this and other twitches - in my thumb, for instance.

He said it was frequently due to electrolyte imbalance caused by dehydration and/or poor nutrition, or sometimes minor toxicity encountered in alcohol, or foods such as mushrooms and seafood.

So, eat right, quit partying, and drink plenty of water. And stay away from fungi and fugu.