By the way, doctor: What can I do about twitching eyelids?
Q. From time to time, my eyelids twitch. What causes this, and is there anything I can do about it?
A. It's a common — and uncommonly distracting — problem. The twitches are involuntary spasms of the muscles that control the eyelids. These spasms can cause fluttering in part of the eyelid or cause the eyelid to repeatedly close and reopen. The spasms last minutes to hours and may continue intermittently for several days. We don't know what causes them, but many experts believe that fatigue, stress, eyestrain, and caffeine all play some role. More prolonged and severe twitching — the kind that causes the eyelid to completely close — may be caused by irritation on the surface of the eye (the cornea) or in tissues lining the eyelids (the conjunctiva).
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