What does this mean?
Twitching is a brief, involuntary contraction of a muscle. Because the muscle carries on working, your strength is intact: you can raise your eyebrow, smile and close your eye. Twitching and a drooping face are therefore two separate signs and should not be used in place of one another.
The telling details are how far it spreads and how long it goes on. Twitching that stays in the lower eyelid alone, lasts a few seconds and stops by itself within days or weeks is usually linked to lack of sleep, caffeine, tired eyes and tension. It is a different matter when the twitching starts in the eyelid and spreads on the same side towards the cheek and the corner of the mouth, has gone on for months and continues even during sleep; assessing that belongs in neurology.
Some of the people who bring this to a dentist assume the twitching comes from the jaw, because when it is felt in the temple or in a chewing muscle it gets confused with a clenching habit. A tired chewing muscle mostly gives tightness, pain and tenderness to touch; it does not produce a rhythmic flicker you can see from the outside. Because the two lead in different directions, the distinction needs to be made by examination.
Behind twitching there is usually a temporary and harmless cause; but where it spreads to the lower part of the face and goes on for months, nerve-related causes come into the assessment as well.
Likely causes
What helps at home?
- Note how many days it has been going on, which muscle it started in and when in the day it gets worse; a few seconds of video does the job of a description at the examination.
- Look again at how much caffeine and nicotine you take in, and try to get your sleep back on track; these three come up often with eyelid twitching.
- If you spend long stretches at a screen, take breaks and have your glasses prescription checked; an uncorrected sight problem tires the muscles around the eye.
- Do not arrange injections, massage or heat for the twitching muscle on your own; anything done before the cause is identified costs time without changing the picture.
- If the twitching is spreading from the eyelid towards the cheek and the corner of the mouth
- If the twitching carries on during sleep as well, or has not stopped for months
- If the twitching comes with loss of strength, drooping or numbness in your face
- If there is hearing loss, ringing in the ear or a balance problem on the same side
- If your eyelid closes fully on its own and blocks your vision
Frequently asked questions
- Is eyelid twitching dangerous?
- Usually it is not. Twitching that stays in the lower eyelid and stops by itself is a common thing linked to lack of sleep and caffeine, and it is expected to pass without treatment. What calls for assessment is twitching that spreads to the lower part of the face, goes on for months or appears alongside other signs.
- Can clenching my teeth cause twitching?
- A clenching habit tires the chewing muscles, leaving them tight, painful and tender to touch. People do report occasional flickers in the muscle, but contractions that run down one whole side of the face and can be seen from the outside are not explained by clenching. If there are findings to do with your jaw it makes sense to have them assessed, while the source of the twitching is dealt with separately.
- Who should I see about twitching?
- If the twitching is only in the eyelid and short-lived, looking again at your daily routine and your eye health may be enough to start with. If it spreads to the lower part of the face or has gone on for months, the assessment belongs in neurology. If it goes together with tightness in your jaw and chewing muscles, a dental examination helps to make that distinction.
This content is for general information and does not replace an in-person examination. Symptoms overlap between conditions, and a diagnosis can only be made clinically.