Today's useless fact - What causes your eye to twitch?

As web surfers, we are all too familiar with that annoying eye tic that sometimes occurs after a long day spent in front of the computer. It appears most eye twiches are harmless, involuntary spasms of the tiny muscles surrounding the eye. Some causes are fatigue, squinting a lot, consuming too much caffeine, or working in a less than ideal visual environment, e.g., staring at a computer screens for long periods of time. Just like a muscle spasm at any other part of the body, an eye twitch can mean you've taxed your muscles and need to relax them.

At home treatments that may help include hot baths, warm or cold compresses, rinsing your eyes out with warm water, or administrating eye drops.

However persistent, more violent eye twitches could be a symptom of other physical or psychological ailments, such as undue stress or temper tantrums, neurological damage, or even epilepsy.

A blepharospasm is the medical term for twitching that usually involves both eyelids and can result in embarrassing social episodes, most commonly attributed to stress. Some sufferers seek relief from the involuntary spasms with botox injections and anti- epileptic drugs that can relax the surrounding muscles.

The more serious hemifacial spasm can involve violent twitching that extends to the side of the face, and can affect speech and eating. This is usually a result of inflammed nerves and should be treated by an opthlamologist.

If your innocent eye twitching becomes more persistent, a trip to the eye doctor would be well advised. Check out the links in our Eye category for more.