so do you have an eye twitch? well in this video I'm gonna go over 7 Pro tips
on how to stop an eyelid from twitching so let's take a look
hey everyone this is Dr. Allen here from doctor eye health the channel helps with
the eyes vision and finding the best vision product so if you're new here
consider subscribing also at any point throughout the video go ahead and check
out the show notes and links below for further information but everything that
we go over otherwise let's talk about the twitching eyelid now chances are if
you're watching this your eyelid is twitching and you're finding it very
annoying and bothersome and the truth is a lot of us experienced these from time
to time now the actual term for an eyelid twitch
is called an eyelid myokymia and it's very similar to having any other muscle
twitch in the body basically then somehow the nerve that controls the
muscle of the eyelid there is being excited and that's causing it to flutter
and twitch away and it can be really really bothersome actually I went
through my entire junior year of college with an eyelid twitch and yes it's super
super annoying now for most people these eyelid twitches are very benign and
self-limiting meaning they only last maybe a day or two but some people they
can last weeks months and potentially even years now again these eyelid
twitches are usually very normal to experience they usually happen as this a
little fluttering of the outside edge of your lower eyelid but occasionally
you'll have an eyelid twitch of the upper eyelid but both are considered
normal however there are some unique sittin scenarios where basically they're
not normal one of those is called a blepharospasm that is where both eyelids
basically clinch shut very tightly and you cannot open them no matter how hard
you try or you could have what's called a hemifacial spasm and that's where half
of your face starts to kind of spasm and grimace uncontrollably again in those
scenarios it is best to go see your doctor and talk to them about your
experiences because they could be associated with other neurological
conditions but again those little fluttering of the eyelids are considered
normal and are usually temporary however I do want to give you some pro tips so
that they resolve a little bit faster so across all medical textbooks in
ophthalmology you will find basically three main causes of the eyelid twitch
one is stress two is fatigue and three is caffeine intake so tip number one is
going to be decrease your stress now that is we're always easier said
than done but the truth is yeah we usually carried way too much stress in
our lives so try picking up something that's a little bit different that's
real laxing whether it be breathing exercises
maybe trying giga or picking up a new hobby something creative I know I've
always done something more kind of creative in my life that I found really
relaxing maybe cooking maybe soap making or picking up maybe a pottery class so
tip number two is to reduce fatigue no again this one is also a little bit
difficult at times it's easier said than done
I personally either try to get to bed a little bit earlier or I think actually
getting more exercise is an excellent way to get some sleep because then your
body's actually worn out and tired so when you do hit the sack you hit the
sack harder another cool tip I picked up on
one of my personal doctors was to when you're heading to bed try to stretch
your arms out and try to do that sort of movement and again that's something that
little kids do when they're really tired kind of fools the brain into knowing
it's bedtime no tip number three is going to be reduced caffeine now this
one could be the most difficult of them all I know it might actually be my most
challenging tip if you're drinking a lot of coffee or some sort of caffeinated
drink like energy drinks then perhaps just backing off of that caffeine will
actually help a lot more I know for a while my wife was actually having a lot
of little eye twitches but you know I was like hey you got to cut back on all
your coffee she's like Oh I'm only drinking one cup a day it's not that bad
but yeah she had switched from drinking regular coffee to espresso so a full cup
of what would be regular coffee is now espresso she was basically drinking like
three times the amount of caffeine but instead of just cutting back on the
amount of caffeine maybe just switching to a different type of caffeine believe
it or not tea the caffeine molecule in tea actually acts a little different and
is digested differently in your body so instead of getting the really high spike
of caffeine pick-me-up that we like from coffee tea will actually give you a very
kind of mellow caffeinated caffeination that lasts longer throughout the day so
again these first three are the biggest and main causes for eyelid twitching but
before we continue with the rest of the tips if you can give me a like for this
video if you're liking this content it's gonna let YouTube know that this is
valuable stuff tip number four is to soothe dry and irritated eyes now if
you're somebody with kind of dry eyes or maybe you have an irritation like an
eyelash growing the wrong way and it's poking you in the eye then it's going to
tell the body to go ahead and blink more so that's going to add that extra
emphasis that may cause your eyelid to twitch so if you're
somebody who wears contacts maybe just taking a break from the contacts is
gonna be an easy enough solution or if you have more dryness go ahead and use
an artificial tear and extra couple times a day in addition you can even do
a gentle little eyelid massage just on the spot that's kind of fluttering and
irritating because that's gonna help just relax that muscle tell it to kind
of soothe and calm down however don't go ahead and crank on the
eye really hard because that's actually just cause more irritation to the eyelid
I personally like to do eyelid massages with a warm compress such as the brooder
eye mask but I have other cool tips on how to manage dry eye symptoms and I'll
hook you up with a whole playlist here and the YouTube card above as well as in
the description below tip number five is going to be reduced
I fatigue now again this one can be a little difficult to do especially
depending on what you're doing throughout the day if you're maybe your
job your occupation is sitting in front of a computer screen all day then
perhaps just giving your eyes a little bit of a break you can follow what's
called the 20-20-20 rule which means after 20 minutes of near digital screen
work take about 20 seconds looking at least 20 feet away in the distance just
to help relax those eye muscles and give them a break in addition you can also
consider special lenses for computer screens or tinted lenses to help relax
those eyes just a little bit more tip number 6 is going to be allergies if you
know that you either have history of allergies or self or if it's something
that runs in the family and your eyes are just feeling like they really itched
and you have to scratch at them then yeah maybe allergies is another
component to it there are several different over-the-counter options for
allergy eyedrops you can of course take over-the-counter oral antihistamine
allergy medications or of course talk to your eye doctor about different eye
drops that could help or even talk to your family physician for possible other
medications in addition you can even do a cold compress in that situation on the
eyelid that'll help soothe either the irritation it'll help decrease any
inflammation of the eyelids in an allergic response so tip number seven is
consider taking an eye vitamin now there are several different reports about the
benefits of taking different vitamins and minerals to help with eyelid
twitches however nothing is really conclusive find a lot of information
about magnesium and other B vitamins how ever again that's all kind of
speculation at this point but if you could consider taking some type of
restorative eye vitamin it's probably not gonna hurt you however again it may have
no benefit it could all just be placebo effect but something you can certainly
consider but if you are gonna go that route it may be the best view to talk
with your family physician or your eye doctor if it's really something best for
you all right so those are my seven tips to help relieve these eyelid twitches if
your eyelid which is of course lasting a long time or of having any of those
other suspected neurological problems perhaps talking to your eye doctor is
the best that may have an ultimate solution of doing a Botox injection to
really kind of numb it but that is only temporary and considered a little bit
more extreme for a treatment but something again you can talk with your
doctor so I health question of the day which one of these tips was your
favorite go ahead and comment in the section below and share any other tips
that you may have to help with these eyelid twitches hey everyone thanks so
much for watching if you like this video hit that like button for me subscribe if
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tap the screen down over here again this is doctor Joe Allen your doctor eye
health the channel that helps you with the eyes, vision, and finding the best vision products
take it easy and we'll see you soon