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Have you ever felt a twitching sensation in your eye? Did it feel like everyone was looking at you because of it? Were you worried that it was the beginning of a big problem?
Relax--it’s not likely to be a big deal. Most of the time it is not even visible to other people.
It's reassuring to know it’s almost never your actual eyeball that is twitching; it’s your eyelid muscle. Actual eye twitching is fairly rare and your vision would be pretty blurry if that's what were really happening.
The eyelid has a muscle in it that closes the eyelid and that muscle has a very high concentration of innervation. Because of that dense nerve tissue in the eyelid, anything that makes your nervous system a little hyped up or off kilter can result in the eyelid twitching.
What are some of the risk factors for eyelid twitching?
Fatigue
Not getting enough sleep can result in your nervous system not performing at its best and one of the results may include eyelid twitching. If you are getting frequent eyelid twitching, try to make sure you are getting the proper amount of sleep.
Caffeine
Too much caffeine can certainly overexcite your nervous system and result in frequent eyelid twitching. If twitching is becoming something you experience frequently, it might be time to cut down your caffeine intake. While coffee tends to be the biggest offender, caffeine does come in other flavors. Tea, colas, and chocolate are other common ones. Other
There are certain eye conditions where an injection into your eye might be recommended.
Injections into the eye, specifically into the vitreous or gel-filled cavity of the eye, are called intravitreal injections.
In Part 1 of this series, we talked mostly about anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) injections. Anti-VEGF injections are probably the most commonly injected agents and they are used to treat wet age-related macular degeneration (ARMD), diabetic retinopathy, and retinal vein occlusion.
But there are other injections that may be used as treatment.
Another injected medication used in combination with Anti-VEGF agents to treat wet macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and retinal vein occlusion are steroids. Additionally, steroids can be used to treat inflammation, or uveitis, in the eye. There is a steroid implant called Ozurdex, that looks like a white pellet and can last up to 3 months in the eye. The downside of steroids is that they can increase eye pressure and cause progression of cataracts.
Antibiotics are another type of medication that can be injected into the eye. Sometimes an infection called endophthalmitis can develop inside the eye. This can occur after eye surgery or a penetrating injury to the eye. The presenting signs and symptoms of endophthalmitis are loss of vision, eye pain and redness of the eye. Bacteria is usually the cause of the infection, and antibiotics are the treatment. The best way to deliver the antibiotics is to inject them directly into the eye.
Another relatively new injection
