Eyelid Twitching Superstitions and Myths, Causes and cure

My left eye has been twitching since last Friday. It can twitch suddenly for a few seconds and made me worry....

What Causes it?
Muscle movements in human beings are controlled by nerves that are located at the base of the brain. When these nerves begin to malfunction, one of the symptoms may be manifested in the twitching of the eyes. In most people, however, twitching eyelids (blepharospasm) has no known cause, and cannot be linked to any specific factors. Besides nerve abnormalities, other possible contributing factors include: Conditions of stress Irritation in the eye Tiredness or fatigue Lack of sleep Prolonged television viewing or staring at the computer monitor Excessive intake of coffee While in many causes, eye twitching need not be taken as a cause for alarm, always consult a doctor to rule out the possibility of any deep rooted cause for your eye muscle spasms.Treatment of Eyelid TwitchingIn vast majority of cases, it's neither practical nor necessary to treat eyelid twitching, which should go away naturally given enough time.
While there is no successful permanent cure for twitching, there are several options available that may curtail its frequency or intensity. Individuals may be advised medication, surgery or preventative therapy. However, bear in mind that very often eye twitching is rooted in physiological causes like stress and fatigue. Once the offending condition is removed, the occurrence of eye twitching reduces dramatically in many cases. As far as medication goes, the results haven't been predictable or particularly successful. Some oral medications have been found to be particularly effective in some persons while bringing about no positive changes in others. Persons who opt for drug therapies therefore need to have a great deal of patience while the effects of the drugs are monitored.
In the US and Canada, the use of botox as a method to control eye muscle spasms has been approved. Injection of botox into the muscles of the eyelids paralyses the muscles, inhibiting any twitching movements. The procedure involves injecting a miniscule amount of the protein into the muscles. The nerve muscles that cause twitching are thus paralyzed. The injection of Botox is not only a safe and quick procedure, but it's also minimally invasive and can produce dramatic improvements in persons who suffer from eye muscle spasms. However this method should only be chosen by individuals in whom the eye muscle spasms have reached frequent and persistent proportions. For persons who do not show a positive reaction to medications or Botox, surgery may be chosen as a final alternative.
Consult your doctor before making a final decision on your treatment options. The treatment options for eye twitching can therefore be broadly classified as under : Mild Eye Twitching – This is a common occurrence that's caused by stress, fatigue, lack of sleep, tiredness and other external factors. Eliminate stressful conditions, get plenty of rest and practice relaxation techniques and you'll find the eye twitching occurrences becoming markedly less frequent. (Hopefully its mild one for me...)Severe Eye Twitching – If the frequency of the eye twitching is pronounced or the intensity causes disruption in your normal day to day life, then you might have to consider one of the treatment options available.
Medication may be used to help muscles relax, but results are unpredictable at best. The use of Botox to treat blepharospasm is common while in severe cases, surgery may be considered as a final alternative. (Nah! I dun wanna fall into this...)

Preventive Measures – Practice deep breathing, meditation and other stress management techniques to keep stress at bay. Get plenty of sleep and cut down your intake of caffeine. When working at the computer or watching TV for prolonged periods of time, take frequent breaks to cut down on eye strain.

Coping With Eyelid Twitching, Blepharospasm or twitching eye disorder is more common than you think. In fact in some cultures in the world, a twitching eye is a premonition of ill luck or disaster! You may notice sudden twitching of your eyelids when you haven't been able to rest adequately for several days or when you're stressed or fatigued. These are normal occurrences and should be no cause for worry. These symptoms may become more pronounced after prolonged television viewing or hours spent in front of your computer.

What Causes Eye Twitching?
A person who notices symptoms of Blepharospasm reports involuntary twitching of the muscles around the eye or the eyelids. Doctors also refer to this condition as the severe sounding "blinking eye disorder." It need not be considered serious, however. Generally, eye twitching can be said to have three forms – blepharospasm in which muscle contractions come and go, myokymia or slow muscle contraction of the eyelids, and normal muscle contraction. In blepharospasm, quicker twitching or jumping of the eyelids is seen as compared to myokymia. Muscles also tend to contract on a regular basis and these need not cause worry.

How to Prevent Eye Twitching Disorder?
Eye twitching can be an inconvenient and annoying, not to mention embarrassing phenomenon. There you are relaxing with a group of new found friends when your eye inexplicably begins to twitch! It doesn't make matters less mortifying to think that in most cases, eye twitching does not have any serious causes. There are a few precautions that you can take to avoid such potentially embarrassing situations. Stress has been found to contribute significantly to eye muscle spasms. Avoid stressful situations and practice deep breathing and other stress management techniques to keep twitching eye at bay. Exercising, even with something like medicine balls or taking long walks, listen to calming music…. do whatever it takes to relax. Lack of sleep can cause nervous eye twitching. Ensure you get a good 8 hours of sleep at night. When you've had a late night, make sure to catch up on your sleep the next day. Cut down on caffeine. Switch to decaf to avoid restless nights or nervous excitement. While options like surgery and Botox are available, these are last ditch methods when al other attempts have failed. It's always advisable to try and control the occurrence of twitches the natural way.

Eyelid Twitching Superstitions and Myths
Millions of people suffer from eye twitching – in some it may be intermittent, brought on by a sudden increase of stress or sleeplessness. In others, it’s more pronounced and can interfere with day to day life. Regardless of which category a person falls into, there’s a goldmine of superstitions that revolve around eye twitching. In fact eye twitching ranks up there with itchy palms and hiccups as the most superstition prone condition! Each culture seems to have its own take on the deeper significance of eye twitching.
In China for instance, where superstitions and myths frequently cross over into modern living, the chief superstition seems to be that a twitch in the right eye signifies good luck, maybe a major windfall. A twitch in the left eye? Not so good. It’s a bad omen; a sign of ill luck headed your way! The entire situation seems to turn around in the case of females; for them, a twitching left eye signifies good luck while a twitching right one is a strict no no! - I hope this is true! Even among the Chinese, there seem to be as many superstitions regarding eye twitching as the sufferers themselves.

There is even a superstition based on an anatomical break down of the eye. A twitch in the lower left eyelid means you can expect to cry soon while a corresponding one in the right eyelid means good fortune is headed your way. There’s yet another one that claims a twitching eyelid means someone is gossiping about you. We think this is a pretty cool one - always good to know the exact moment when your enemies are bad mouthing you. In any case, all these mental calisthenics figuring out whether an eye twitch means you’re going to win the lottery or have the sky fall on your head, will probably give you enough stress to trigger off a whole new series of twitches!

Next to the Chinese, the Indians are the Olympic champions when it comes to superstitions. The commonly believed one here is just the opposite of the Chinese version. Here a twitching left eye is definitely a good omen, while a twitching right one is considered inauspicious. The Nigerians go with the Chinese version. Left eye – bad. Right eye – Good.Another superstition is a little more frightening than the above. It’s not clear where this one comes from, but according to it a twitching left eye means there’s soon going to be a death in the family. A twitching right one on the other hand means an impending birth.To the Hawaiians, an eye twitch can either mean the arrival of a stranger, or that you’re soon going to mourn for someone.
In Cameroon and some other parts of Africa, a twitching lower eyelid means you will soon shed tears. As far as superstitions go, this one is quite scientific. Tears normally flow from the corner of the lower eyelid. Still on Africa, when the upper eyelid twitches, it’s a sure sign you’re going to meet someone you didn’t expect to see. This one’s also connected to anatomical science, it seems. Surprise and amazement are normally expressed in humans by the raising of the upper eyelids.

Source from: http://www.twitchingeyelids.com

Oh my! What should I do??? Think I lack of vitamins and beauty sleep...