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SINGAPORE: Recently, my mother went through an annoying bout of eyelid tics.
For a good two weeks, her left upper eyelid would twitch at intermittent periods.
Being the superstitious sort, she thought that it was a bad omen and lived in trepidation until the twitches finally stopped. Of course, nothing catastrophic happened.
It’s not bad luck, said Ms Yondi Lee, a holistic nutritionist at Ascension Healing. Rather, the twitches were probably caused by the lack of magnesium, a mineral commonly found in dairy products, dark green vegetables, whole grain cereals, legumes and nuts.
Magnesium, said Ms Lee, helps to relax the muscles.
According to Dr Sharon Tow, however, the exact cause of the condition is unknown. The senior consultant ophthalmologist and head of Singapore National Eye Centre’s neuro-ophthalmology service, added that it is associated with an excessive intake of caffeine and alcohol. Fatigue or stress could also cause eyelid spasms.
Explaining why stress may possibly trigger eyelid twitches, Ms Lee said: “When a person goes through periods of high tension, the body uses up more magnesium, causing a temporary deficiency in the mineral.”
In general, an average person requires about 300mg of magnesium daily but Ms Lee said this intake should be increased in times of high stress and tension.
But are eyelid twitches serious enough to warrant a trip to the doctor’s?
While they may also be “due to an artery in the brain pressing on the nerves of the facial muscles, causing the eyelids and face to twitch”, or the first sign of a brain tumour pressing on the facial nerve, such cases are rare, said Dr Tow.
“In most cases, eyelid myokymia is temporary and not associated with any disease. But if the symptoms persist for months, the patient may wish to consult a neuro-ophthalmologist,” she said.
She advised patients with eyelid myokymia to relax, get adequate sleep and cut down on caffeine and alcohol.
“For prolonged cases, a small injection of Botox to the area of twitching is very helpful. In general, by the time the Botox wears out, no further twitching is experienced,” said Dr Tow.
According to Dr Sharon Tow, senior consultant ophthalmologist and head of Singapore National Eye Centre’s neuro-ophthalmology service, the most common type of eyelid twitch is called eyelid myokymia.
“In each episode, the twitching typically lasts for several seconds to a few minutes, recurring many times during the day,” she said, adding that although the eyelid twitches usually disappear after a few days or weeks, some cases can last for as long as “several months”. - TODAY/ar
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