Can an eye twitch be caused by a tumour?

Please get an appointment with a medical doctor, not your optometrist. Optometrist are great for measuring vision and correcting vision issues. But they are NOT trained for dealing with a neurological issue. They certainly can’t diagnose or evaluate a possible tumor!

Get an appointment with your primary care physician and get a referral to a neurologistt

I’ve seen a neurologist!

By the way I took myself as my Dr didn’t think I needed to see one x

I’m on my own hunt now to stop this twitch!

I’m no doc but your eye twitch could simply be stress from worrying about eye twitch.

Yes @ARE_you_kidding_me – this is what everyone is telling me , but three months is a long time to have a twitch and i’m eating well, taking magnesium, relaxing – sleeping (ish) but I still have it!

You will not get reliable medical advice from the internet.

Your doctor didn’t think you needed a neurologist?
So then, you saw a doctor.
You will ignore what your doctors tell you, and expect strangers on the internet to diagnose you?
Listen to your doctor, or get another.
We cannot help you.

maybe someone has had an experience that might be able to help – that’s all : )

@tan253—it’s possible that your eye twitch can be explained by eye strain. If you’re needing glasses, even a low prescription, it’s possible that your eyes are working over time to try and stay focused for you. Eye muscles can and do get fatigued.

I experienced eye strain without knowing what it was. One of the symptoms I experienced was an eye twitch. When I was finally convinced to try reading glasses—smallest prescription I could find at a store—I was amazed at the difference. Now when I know I’m going to be reading a lot of content, I have my reading glasses at the ready to give my eyes a break. I also know what eye strain feels like for me, so I can catch it early.

I’m not a doctor, and the reading glasses recommendation wasn’t given to me by a doctor, but that was my experience.

And in your case, it’s your optometrist suggesting the glasses… Did they mention anything about eye strain? Did you—or could you—ask them if that could be causing the twitch?

Have you seen an ophthalmologist?

Hi @Soubresaut yes I“m on the computer all the time at the moment for the past 6 months, so that could make sense, I haven’t been to see an opthamologist but maybe that’s next, I was thinking of going ot the dentist and getting an x-ray of my partoid gland, apparently they can do that!

Why would you think a tumor? I think nerves can do all kinds of odd things without a tumor being involved, but I am not a neurologist. I would ask my doctor who it would make to see about the possibility of it being a nerve thing like you are thinking.

How are you feeling about it now that your thinking about it has shifted a bit?

How have your sleep and anxiety been?

You have a self-diagnosed history of anxiety about your health. It has been suggested that you seek counseling for it many times here. Why don’t you already? Jumping to ideas about tumors is not doing you any good.

I don’t mean to sound harsh but it does seem as if you always jump to the worst possible diagnosis for any medical problems you have and you have said how anxious you get about your health. I wish you’d get to the root of that issue for your own sake.

I am… I am going to see a psychologist, It’s just that it’s on-going… and when something’s on-going i think it deserves some attention that’s all…

My anxiety and sleep are getting better but I’ve suffered a very bad patch for the last – well 3 months really…. ;)

@tan253 It does deserve attention but don’t go to the worst possible scenario. I’m glad you’re seeing someone.

@tan253 When is your appointment with the psychologist? I am grateful you’ll have someone to talk to.

It’s next week, I’ve also just booked an appointment with my dentist to do a full jaw x-ray as that will show a tumor on the gland thingy I mentioned above, I’d love for it to just be stress, but would like to find that out through deduction that’s all.

I have occasional twitching caused by a chronic chalazion, but I would expect an optometrist to catch that if that were your problem. But maybe not; mine was diagnosed by an ophthalmologist.

I guess I’ve been spelling it wrong all these years. It’s oph – thal – mol – o – gist.

Oh yes see, that makes sense – do they get rid of it for you?? My twitching completely went away when I had sinus congestion – I think that’s weird – it came back as soon as it cleared…

@Zissou can’t you see a Chalazion?

^Yes, if it’s severe enough. My main symptom, aside from the twitching, was the excessive secretion. The dr. showed me how to keep it under control; it’s probably not going to go away completely.

Interesting, I think the xray I’m getting will show that. It has gotten better – but its still there!

Also I just put eye drops in my eye and that makes it twitch – any touch makes it twitch, I can’t wear mascara or when I wash my face or rub it- it twitches – surely these are all key players in understanding why it’s twitching but still no-one could help!

You know eye twitches can be triggered by stress, right? It is likely a self-fulfilling problem

I used to get eye twitches when I had either of these situations (or combination): when I was under a lot of stress (mental or physical. The physical part happened often with hard sneezes or trying to pick up something really heavy, or getting startled like when you trip and almost fall) when I didn’t get enough sleep, and when I didn’t drink enough water.

I have read that people who drink too much alcohol can get eye twitches, probably due to the dehydration.

I too think you need to get to the root of your anxiety, and start learning ways to alleviate your stress, and get enough rest. Make that a goal for your life.

Yeah that’s what the Dr has told me and the Optometrist and the Neurologist – I can’t help but feel maybe it’s something else… but I have terrible health anxiety and I need to fix it. I wonder though – can it really make a twitch last this long 3 months??

@tan253 Yes, absolutely. I had that problem over the course of several years. When I made the consious decision to reduce my stress, and drink more water, and get enough sleep (by going to bed earlier and reading a book, rather than looking at the computer) it went away. Not sure how long that took, I just didn’t notice it anymore because it stopped.

Thank you @Kardamom
x

I think you should trust the professionals you’ve already seen. When my horrible twitch lasted four lousy months, I was going nuts. I too have health anxiety as you know! I simply went to an optometrist. Unlike you, I avoid medical professionals but I have the same anxieties. So I took his word for it. (Well kind of, I wanted to believe him it was easier than traipsing around neurologists which I’d find terrifying. Same phobia different behaviors! I avoided that since it would have stressed me out even more than I am already!

The point is, if I had seen all of those people and they had said everything was OK, I’d have been glad and relieved but you aren’t. Which seems like you want to keep the ball of fear rolling. However, I know it is the most horrid feeling ever when it twitches simply because your hair blew into it.

The real issue is anxiety perhaps you are using the doctor visits and fear to avoid facing that which really is the issue and that is facing what your anxiety is really about. Often doing something physically inane like seeing loads of reassuring doctors can distract us from our inner selves. That’s why we do it.

A good therapist will guide you into looking at all the real noise inside of you the one you are avoiding and trust me, it’s not that bad, you won’t break up into zillion pieces or if you do, a good therapist will piece you back together again.

Someone said to me the other day (and it is merely an opinion of this person not a fact), that every time we experience trauma we leave a little piece of ourselves there. Or, a piece of our soul (whatever you believe in). That part re-enacts that trauma over and over again. The more traumas the more phobias, or the bigger the trauma the bigger the phobia. The problem with phobias is that they grow branches and twigs and become so complex. However, the root is not too hard to find if you are dedicated. You are probably asking this over and over again to garner reassurance. Not real advice. If it were real advice you wanted you’d have listened to the neurologist. Something inside of you needs reassurance, something needs you to be able to reassure yourself.
By the way I am writing this lengthy ‘thing’ because I am also writing it for me, your fellow neurotic phobic! That was said in friendship not in a horrid way!!

You might have to go the botox root to stop the twitching if it bothers you that much, however, I think when you alleviate the cause the symptom will vanish. Mine twitches now and then, but it’s more or less stopped. It went on for four or five crazy months.

I hope you do feel better soon and I hope it does stop twitching soon, like mine did.

Hey @LornaLove you’ve hit the nail on the end – I’m looking for reassurance you’re right… someone might respond that it was a tumour but I wouldn’t believe that one I’d only belive those that say it’s nothing – though thankfully no-one said that but yes reassurance – why can’t we give that to ourselves?
My eye hasnt’ twitched at all today – ironically, so that tells me it’s not a tumour.
I didn’t have a hard upbringing, not compared to some – I never felt much love as a child – sadly and came from a slightly abusive home but nothing overtly harmful – not like others out there… but I think the mental aspect of it must have really stuck with me, I’ve had anxiety since I was little to be honest – around 5 I noticed it when I didn’t think I’d make it to 12 – I thought I’d die from heart failure, – that’s not normal 5 year old behaviour.
Maybe something did happen to me – I mean my dad was in a gang, they were always around at our house .. I may have blocked it out but I can’t even begin to imagine that and that in itself would turn me into a basket case so if that were the case, I’d rather it stay deeply hidden to be honest ,though I highly doubt it is the case, as I’ve got a pretty good memory, my earliest being 2. Could just be I’m the product of a bad upbringing and this is the anxieties that I’ve carried into adulthood to protect me at a subconscious level. Who knows… but I hear you… anxiety is a horrible phobia, especially Health Anxiety… Thanks for your support everyone!

Its also a sign of Vitamin deficiency( B6 ..I think).