The eyelid twitch: Why does my eye keep twitching and how can I stop it?

It might be annoying and leave you feeling concerned, but there are common reasons that cause frustrating eye twitches. Keep reading for a guide on taking some simple measures to help deal with the issue.

There are a host of reasons why your eye muscle might suddenly start twitching. This is a small, involuntary eye muscle twitch caused by muscle fibre contractions.

Common triggers for eye muscle twitching are stress, tiredness, eye strain, increased screen time or drinking too much caffeine. Factors like these, including high blood pressure, dry eyes or a lack of sleep, can put great strain on our eye nerves and lead to muscle spasms.

Sometimes, other health issues could be causing less obvious or persistent twitching to make your eye twitch randomly or all the time. Factors such as dehydration or other underlying conditions could be at play.

A deficiency of the essential mineral magnesium, which is important for muscle and nerve function, could also lead to the nerves sending incorrect signals to the muscles. Your GP can check for a deficiency with a simple blood test.

Thankfully, there are lots of practical, actionable tips you can follow to help stop your eye from twitching:

Check if you are magnesium deficient:

• Reduce your caffeine intake
• Try to get more sleep, or better quality sleep
• Relieve stress through exercise, relaxation techniques and listening to calming music
• Check whether you need glasses if you are straining
  

In rarer cases, the reason your eye keeps twitching could be caused by infections, conjunctivitis, inflammation or an underlying medical condition. It's important to seek the advice of an eye care professional if your symptoms persist, worsen or affect your vision – or to simply put your mind at rest.