If you have ever had an eyelid twitch, you understand how annoying it can be. It feels like it is never going to go away. The good news is that in most cases, it will go away soon and that it is a common non serious condition. It is often caused by stress.
The body does weird things under stress. The body is preparing for battle or for an escape so it diverts its normal functions that are in balance into an unbalanced state of emergency. Because we live in varying states of emotional stress that can be hard to recognize, eye twitching can seem to come out of the blue when it is caused by stress. When people then get worried that the twitch is serious and may not go away, this adds to the stress and makes the twitch worse. Once, the stress resolves or the person is reassured that it is not serious and temporary, the twitch goes away.
An eyelid twitch can also be caused by lack of sleep. Your body wants the eye to close for sleep and you keep it open because you have things to do. This back and forth signal sends the eyelid muscles into a spasm. Just take a rest and the twitch will go to sleep as well. Overstimulation from caffeine can send the eyelids into a twitch, so cutting back on the coffee can help stop a twitch.
There are some conditions of the eye that cause irritation of the eyes that trigger an eyelid twitch so getting an eye exam is always a good idea to treat any conditions that cause eye irritation. And lastly, there are some medical conditions that do cause a long term eyelid twitch called blepharospasm that are treated by ophthalmologists. So if it does actually persist, see your ophthalmologist.
