Auntie Wang felt a lot of mental pain, two years ago her left eyelid began to jump incessantly, at first she did not think, think is probably less sleep, eyes tired, so jump. And self-congratulation that “the left eye jumping money, right eye jumping disaster”, the left eye jumping more also good. She didn’t expect the eyelid jumping to become more and more frequent and serious, and her left eye could not be opened afterwards, but also involved the whole left cheek twitching together, and the shape of her face changed over time. After going to the neurology department of the hospital, she learned that she was suffering from a disease called “facial muscle spasm”, which can be treated surgically. Auntie Wang is still very scared to move this knife in the brain shell, she is very hesitant, and how she could not imagine the normal eyelid jumping, run to her all become a major disease, what is going on here? What are the clinical manifestations of facial muscle spasm? Facial muscle spasm is a paroxysmal involuntary spasm or twitch that occurs in one side of the facial expression muscle, also known as hemifacial spasm or facial muscle twitch. Its incidence in daily life is still quite high, although not life-threatening, but repeated facial muscle twitching often puts patients in an embarrassing situation, causing great inconvenience and mental pain. The clinical manifestations of facial muscle spasm are quite specific, starting with intermittent painless twitching of the upper or lower eyelid on one side. Thereafter, it gradually and slowly progresses to the cheek and even the entire half of the face. The twitching of the muscles of the corners of the mouth is the most striking, and in severe cases it may even spread to the neck muscles on the same side. The degree of twitching varies, and can be aggravated by fatigue, excitement, mental tension, and voluntary movement, but it cannot be imitated or controlled by itself, and in severe cases, it can even be in spasm. Most people do not pay attention to it at first, and most of them go to the doctor only after a few years when they find that the twitching is serious. Since most of the twitches are around the eyes first, it is simply thought that the eyelid jumping is caused by excessive eye strain. Of course, it does not mean that eyelid jumping is facial muscle spasm, if the eyelid jumping lasts for a short period of time, it is a normal situation, so there is no need to be too nervous. If you have clinical symptoms, you can get an electromyogram to see if there are pathological changes, so that the diagnosis is clear. Causes of facial muscle spasm In terms of pathogenesis, the “nerve short circuit” theory is now recognized by clinicians, which is based on the fact that the intracranial facial nerve is compressed by the abnormal traveling vessels of the vertebrobasilar artery system at the emitting part of the brainstem, and the facial nerve is pathologically stimulated to produce abnormal nerve impulses, resulting in facial muscle twitching. The cause of vascular compression of the facial nerve is currently unknown. Possible risk factors are known to include advanced age, hypertension, atherosclerosis, small posterior cranial fossa volume, and genetics. In rare cases, facial spasm can be secondary to intracranial tumors, aneurysms, arteriovenous malformations, brainstem lesions, and bony lesions, the chance of which is much less than 1%. Therefore, an MRI can be done to determine the presence of vascular malformations, tumors, etc. Facial muscle spasm treatment Facial muscle spasm can be tried with oral medication and Botox, but relatively speaking, these two treatments are not very effective at present. Patients should not be nervous about the surgery.