Muscle Twitches, Tics or Fasciculation

Majority of people nowadays are experiencing random muscle movements commonly in areas around the eyes, arms, legs and face. These are fine movements of a very small area of muscles that often referred to as twitches, tics or scientifically as fasciculation. These are uncontrollable, involuntary, and minor and often go unnoticed once the affected area is moved or touched. A lot of people become anxious about these muscle contractions that they tend to worry more and aggravate the condition. In here we will discuss the details about these twitches for better understanding of everyone.

Causes

Although majority of these twitches are normal, there are numerous factors that cause these listed as follow:

• Diet Deficiency. Too much caffeine intake and dehydration are the common causes of twitches. Other dietary cause include electrolyte imbalance specifically magnesium deficiency. Factors that reduce magnesium absorption include high calcium intake, excessive alcohol intake, surgery or irritation of the digestive tract. Magnesium’s role in the body is to oppose calcium and relax muscles. Around 26% of total magnesium in the body could be found in the muscles. Other effects of magnesium deficiency include muscle cramps, palpitations, anxiety, etc.
• Exercise. Repetitive muscle movement can cause fatigue to muscles in a particular area. Twitches are often signals that your muscles need to take a rest.
• Normal or benign. Twitches or tics just occur naturally affecting the eyelids, calf, hand, or legs. One condition includes the Benign Fasciculation Syndrome (BFS) which manifests muscle twitches all over the body but is really nonthreatening and harmless.
• Anxiety and stress. It is quite known that anxiety and emotional stress aggravates symptoms experienced by the body. Stress is state of mind wherein one person feels like tackling something that is too much to handle. Tics often yields anxiety to selected individuals yielding sleepless nights and emotional stress which intensify one’s perception of these twitches.
• Diseases. Fasciculation can often be symptoms of a different disease or complications in the nervous system. Examples of these are lower motor neuron lesion, Werdnig- Hoffman disease, Kennedy disease, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, Lyme Disease, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gehrig’s disease, Fibromyalgia and Myasthenia gravis.

Diagnosis

Diagnosis of muscle twitches to determine the root cause involves a process of elimination. One must undergo a series of laboratory tests to pinpoint the exact cause and if all tests yield a negative result, then one can infer that it is normal and benign.

• Blood chemistry test to determine electrolyte imbalance including magnesium deficiency. The normal adult value for magnesium is 1.5-2.5 mEq/L.
• EMG NCV which stands for Electromyography Nerrve Conduction Velocity. This test detects any delay in transmission in the nerve that may be caused by injuries. These type of test can detect Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). EMG NCV testing introduces a small volt of electricity to the affected area or to different parts of the body to time the body’s nerve reaction in the transmission of the electricity. Any delay in the normal transmission would indicate nerve damage that may be due to ALS.
• Physical tests are standard test to check muscle reflexes and to test whether there are muscle weaknesses.
• MRI or the magnetic resonance imaging is used to detect any abnormalities in the brain or spine which are the main part of our nervous system.

Treatment

Twitches caused due to diet are easily treated. Magnesium deficiency, especially after a magnesium loss due to severe diarrhea, over exertion or plainly inadequate intake can be remedied by increasing magnesium consumption in their daily diet. For those caused by stress and anxiety, rest and other recreational activities may help.

There is no remedy for fasciculations those diagnosed with ALS. There is no standard on the duration and frequency of twitches to predict the effect of ALS.

Consult a doctor for more information on twitches for guidance and treatment. Never self medicate.