There is a folk saying called ‘left wealth, right disaster’ to describe eyelid twitching, and many people believe that eyelid twitching predicts the good or bad of what is about to happen. However, from the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine, eyelid twitching is a ‘warning light’ for poor spleen and stomach function.

The eyelids are responsible for closing the eyes, and are composed of the orbicularis oculi muscle surrounding the eyes; what we call eyelid twitching is actually caused by abnormal excitement of the nerve that controls the eyelid muscle, which means some orbicularis oculi muscle fibers cannot autonomously sustain contraction for a short period of time, causing the skin above to be pulled.

Generally, the incidence of eyelid twitching is more frequent during overfatigue, excessive use of eyes, or insufficient sleep. Other factors such as strong light, stimulation caused by drugs, foreign objects blown into the eyes, or frequent smoking and drinking, etc., can stimulate the eyes and cause eyelid twitching.

The most common type of eyelid twitch is the ‘muscle small tremor’ of the orbicularis oculi muscle, which twitches for a few seconds to a few minutes each time; under normal circumstances, it will automatically recover after a period of time, and you can also rest your eyes by closing them, or apply a warm towel to your eyes, as well as maintain a balanced diet and adequate sleep to shorten the duration of eyelid twitching.

If your eyelids twitch non-stop, you should seek medical treatment immediately. If your eyelid twitching is accompanied by twitching of the facial muscles on one side, eyebrows, and corners of the mouth, it may be a spasm caused by stimulation of the facial nerve, and it should be treated actively; otherwise, symptoms such as facial palsy and strabismus may occur.

Traditional Chinese medicine believes that eyelid twitching is caused by prolonged illness and overwork, which damages the heart and spleen, or by blood deficiency and liver-spleen blood deficiency leading to wind for a long time.

If it is caused by deficiency of both heart and spleen, accompanied by symptoms such as insomnia, forgetfulness, irritability, palpitations, decreased appetite, and fatigue, it can be treated with ‘Gui Pi Decoction’ with added or reduced herbs; if it is caused by blood deficiency leading to wind, and it often jumps uncontrollably, and is associated with the eyebrows, forehead, face, and corners of the mouth, it can be treated with ‘Dang Gui Huoxue Decoction’ with added or reduced herbs.

If a folk saying can convince you so much, then the words of traditional Chinese medicine should be even more believable. If your eyelids twitch, it’s recommended to replenish the spleen and stomach!