A blepharospasm (from Greek: blepharo, eyelid, and spasm, an uncontrolled muscle contraction), is any abnormal contraction or twitch of the eyelid.
It normally refers to benign essential blepharospasm, a focal dystonia—a neurological movement disorder involving involuntary and sustained contractions of the muscles around the eyes. The term essential indicates that the cause is unknown, but fatigue, stress, or an irritant are possible contributing factors. In most cases, symptoms last for a few days then disappear without treatment, but sometimes the twitching is chronic and persistent, causing lifelong challenges. In those rare cases, the symptoms are often severe enough to result in functional blindness. The person’s eyelids feel like they are clamping shut and will not open without great effort. Patients have normal eyes, but for periods of time are effectively blind due to their inability to open their eyelids.
Although strides have recently been made in early diagnosis, blepharospasm is often initially mis-diagnosed as allergies or “dry eye syndrome”. It is a fairly rare disease, affecting only one in every 20,000 people in the United States..
Symptoms
- Excessive blinking and spasming of the eyes, usually characterized by uncontrollable eyelid closure of durations longer than the typical blink reflex, sometimes lasting minutes or even hours.
- Uncontrollable contractions or twitches of the eye muscles and surrounding facial area. Some sufferers have twitching symptoms that radiate into the nose, face and sometimes, the neck area.
- Dryness of the eyes
- Sensitivity to the sun and bright light
Treatment
- Drug therapy: Drug therapy for blepharospasm has proved generally unpredictable and short-termed. Finding an effective regimen for any patient usually requires trial and error over time.
- Botulinum toxin injections (Botox is a widely known example) have been used to induce localized, partial paralysis. Among most sufferers, botolinum toxin injection is the preferred treatment method. Injections are generally administered every three months, with variations based on patient response and usually give almost immediate relief (though for some it may take more than a week) of symptoms from the muscle spasms. Most patients can resume a relatively normal life with regular Botulinum toxin treatments. A minority of sufferers develop minimal or no result from Botox injections and have to find other treatments. For some, Botulinum toxin diminishes in its effectiveness after many years of use. An observed side effect in a minority of patients is ptosis or eyelid droop. Attempts to inject in locations that minimize ptosis can result in diminished ability to control spasms.
- Surgery: Patients that do not respond well to medication or botulinum toxin injection are candidates for surgical therapy. The most effective surgical treatment has been protractor myectomy, the removal of muscles responsible for eyelid closure.
- Dark glasses are often worn because of sunlight sensitivity, as well as to hide the eyes from others.
- Stress management and support groups can help sufferers deal with the disease and prevent social isolation.
