What Causes Twitching In Face And Mouth?

Posted on Fri, 25 Jul 2014

Question: Hi, I have been experiencing alot of twitching in my face, mainly around my mouth, it started a few weeks ago,. I have had muscle jerks at night for about 12 weeks that id never had before. I was concerned it may be related to my brain but a scan only showed I had quite bad sinusitis and the twitching is still present, but now , as I said my face muscles have began to twitch now,.. they also feel weak on the right side of my face. The muscle jerks in my body the doctor said is anxiety but im more concerned with the face twitching. I have also had a typical facial pain for over 10 years which is managed with amitriptyline. I have noticed that the facial twitching often gets worse with physical exercise, and if I do something that requires a little force, for an example, I was opening a jar and the lid was very tight and when I applied a little force my mouth area trembled. Please give me an opinion what this may be caused by and what I could do, if anything, to help. Thanks, XXXXXXX

Answered by Dr. Dr. Prasad J (13 hours later)

Brief Answer:
? Facial palsy...

Detailed Answer:
Hi,

Unfortunately the cause why muscle twitches occur is not known. Most experts relate it to stress and anxiety. Few experts also name dehydration and electrolyte changes as causes. I would not relate these twitches to a brain pathology. However since you also noticed right sided weakness of face, I would first want to rule out facial palsy (Bell's palsy) here. I shall list some actions which you can perform infront of the mirror.
1. Shut your eyes - Patients with facial palsy are unable to close eyes completely
2. Smile - you can see a difference when you smile.
3. Press your lips hard and blow - if muscles are not weak, you should be able to stop air leaks. However air will easily leak out if muscle are weak.
4. Try blowing a balloon - you will find this task difficult if you have facial weakness.

You can take it for granted that your facial muscles are as strong as it was before if all these tasks are accomplished with ease and the weakness is not the cause of facial twitching.

I understand you are concerned and you reached this forum to find a cause. But my suggestions is that you should ignore them once you realized there is no facial weakness. Usually these twitches settle down in a few weeks. Drink plenty of fluids and remain hydrated.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you need clarifications.

Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar