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- How Might You Benefit From Blepharospasm Treatment?
How Might You Benefit From Blepharospasm Treatment?
If you have been suffering from irritating or uncomfortable contractions and twitches in your eyelids, you might have imagined at first that it was some kind of nervous tic or twitch. If it has been persistent, it may be eyelid myokymia. However, it might also be a condition known as blepharospasm.
Should you be diagnosed with the latter condition, you may be interested in getting radiotherapy blepharospasm treatment, especially if the condition is severe and impacts daily activities.
The difference between the two conditions may not be immediately clear, and it is important to get an accurate diagnosis to ensure the right treatment path is followed.
Although this can be irritating and last for weeks, its causes are rarely disease or chronic illness, but more common factors such as stress, tiredness through lack of sleep and excess caffeine consumption.
Other possible lifestyle causes can include irritation from contact lenses, alcohol and tobacco consumption and the side effects of some medicines.
This differs from facial myokymia, which is a more serious condition. While both involve the motor units in the facial muscles firing off spontaneously and causing the muscle fibres to undulate, the facial version is often caused by chronic issues.
Causes of facial myokymia can include problems with the orbicularis oculi muscle, but also problems with the facial nerve nucleus. The latter cause originates in the brainstem, often as a result of conditions like multiple sclerosis or a tumour pressing on the nerves.
Nobody is absolutely sure how the condition occurs, but experts believe that the likely cause of blepharospasm is one of two things:
- A dysfunction in a part of the brain called the basal ganglia, which is associated with the coordination of movements.
- A problem with the cranial nerve, which carries signals from the brain to the face. This may be caused by spontaneous activity by cells in the nerve despite the absence of any brain signal.
Blepharospasm occurs most often in women aged between 40 and 60 and can be hereditary, running in families in around 20-30 per cent of cases.
There are two kinds of blepharospasm, primary and secondary. In the primary case, the blepharospasm symptoms of twitching eyelids are an isolated problem, whereas in the secondary case, it is a manifestation of a wider underlying problem that may have other health consequences.
Notable symptoms include the fact that the patient blinks more than non-sufferers, while both eyelids are affected at the same time. As well as being irritating, in some cases this can cause the eyelids to involuntarily close, which can hamper everyday activities and mean the patient may not be safe to do things like driving.
Other possible treatments can include the use of tinted lenses to help with light sensitivity, which can be a trigger for the condition in some patients.
Neurosurgical treatment is usually only a last resort for those who are suffering the worst symptoms and are unable to carry out daily functions, such as those whose eyes may close spontaneously during spasms and for whom other treatments have not brought sufficient relief.
In this instance, one radical option is the use of deep-brain stimulation, or DBS. This involves the use of implants of electrodes in areas of the brain associated with the regulation of movement, the basal ganglia being among them.
These will act like a neurological version of a pacemaker, helping prevent irregular neurological signals the same way a pacemaker prevents an irregular heart rhythm.
A DBS implant may be a radical solution, but if you have tried Botox, tinted glasses, improving your sleep patterns and cutting down on caffeine without much success, it may be that after consultation with us, this proves to be the one effective means of curbing your blepharospasm symptoms.
Explore the Queen Square website to learn more about our advanced radiotherapy and neurosurgical treatments for blepharospasm.
Should you be diagnosed with the latter condition, you may be interested in getting radiotherapy blepharospasm treatment, especially if the condition is severe and impacts daily activities.
The difference between the two conditions may not be immediately clear, and it is important to get an accurate diagnosis to ensure the right treatment path is followed.
The Differences Between Blepharospasm And Myokymia
Myokymia comes in different forms and eyelid myokymia is usually a non-chronic condition that can cause eyelids to twitch or go into spasm.Although this can be irritating and last for weeks, its causes are rarely disease or chronic illness, but more common factors such as stress, tiredness through lack of sleep and excess caffeine consumption.
Other possible lifestyle causes can include irritation from contact lenses, alcohol and tobacco consumption and the side effects of some medicines.
This differs from facial myokymia, which is a more serious condition. While both involve the motor units in the facial muscles firing off spontaneously and causing the muscle fibres to undulate, the facial version is often caused by chronic issues.
Causes of facial myokymia can include problems with the orbicularis oculi muscle, but also problems with the facial nerve nucleus. The latter cause originates in the brainstem, often as a result of conditions like multiple sclerosis or a tumour pressing on the nerves.
Causes Of Blepharospasm
A blepharospasm is a similar condition in terms of symptoms, but the cause is different. This is a specifically neurological condition and as well as symptoms often being more severe, this is not likely to go away when a patient gets more sleep or cuts down on caffeine or alcohol, although these steps can ease symptoms.Nobody is absolutely sure how the condition occurs, but experts believe that the likely cause of blepharospasm is one of two things:
- A dysfunction in a part of the brain called the basal ganglia, which is associated with the coordination of movements.
- A problem with the cranial nerve, which carries signals from the brain to the face. This may be caused by spontaneous activity by cells in the nerve despite the absence of any brain signal.
Blepharospasm occurs most often in women aged between 40 and 60 and can be hereditary, running in families in around 20-30 per cent of cases.
There are two kinds of blepharospasm, primary and secondary. In the primary case, the blepharospasm symptoms of twitching eyelids are an isolated problem, whereas in the secondary case, it is a manifestation of a wider underlying problem that may have other health consequences.
Notable symptoms include the fact that the patient blinks more than non-sufferers, while both eyelids are affected at the same time. As well as being irritating, in some cases this can cause the eyelids to involuntarily close, which can hamper everyday activities and mean the patient may not be safe to do things like driving.
Treatment Options
Although there is uncertainty about the underlying cause, there are treatments that can bring relief for sufferers. Among non-neurological options are Botox injections, which stiffen the muscles to prevent them from going into spasm, or drugs designed to block the signals between cells and nerves, although many of the latter are experimental.Other possible treatments can include the use of tinted lenses to help with light sensitivity, which can be a trigger for the condition in some patients.
Neurosurgical treatment is usually only a last resort for those who are suffering the worst symptoms and are unable to carry out daily functions, such as those whose eyes may close spontaneously during spasms and for whom other treatments have not brought sufficient relief.
In this instance, one radical option is the use of deep-brain stimulation, or DBS. This involves the use of implants of electrodes in areas of the brain associated with the regulation of movement, the basal ganglia being among them.
These will act like a neurological version of a pacemaker, helping prevent irregular neurological signals the same way a pacemaker prevents an irregular heart rhythm.
A DBS implant may be a radical solution, but if you have tried Botox, tinted glasses, improving your sleep patterns and cutting down on caffeine without much success, it may be that after consultation with us, this proves to be the one effective means of curbing your blepharospasm symptoms.
Explore the Queen Square website to learn more about our advanced radiotherapy and neurosurgical treatments for blepharospasm.
