What causes my lower left lip to twitch? What is hemifacial spasm?

Some people in life will have such symptoms, that is, their lower lip twitching from time to time. Many people are very worried about this, thinking it is facial spasm or something like that. Let us understand what the symptoms of facial spasm are.

Symptoms of area spasm

1. Symptoms of hemifacial spasm

Eyelid twitching and mouth corner twitching usually start with the lower or upper eyelid twitching. Many people have experienced eyelid twitching, which may be related to fatigue and nervous tension, and will naturally get better after a period of time. You should pay attention if continuous twitching occurs. It starts with the eyelids, then the entire eyelid, and finally the corners of the mouth twitch. It is paroxysmal and involuntary. It twitches intermittently when you see strangers or get nervous. If it twitches continuously for a few seconds each time for more than three months, you can be diagnosed with hemifacial spasm.

2. The incidence and harm of hemifacial spasm

Hemifacial spasm usually occurs after middle age, is rare in adolescents, and is more common in women than in men. Hemifacial spasm seriously affects vision, language, social interaction, diet and work, causing great pain to patients. The disease is mostly triggered by emotional tension, fatigue, and anger, but it cannot be simulated and controlled by oneself. Most convulsions stop after falling asleep, but some people may wake up due to convulsions after falling asleep. The left side is slightly more common than the right side. Bilateral facial muscle spasm is very rare. If it occurs, one side is usually affected before the other. A small number of patients experience mild facial pain during convulsions (called tic pain), and some patients may also experience headaches, tinnitus on the affected side, and deafness. Some patients may experience weakness and atrophy of the affected side muscles and loss of taste in the front 2/3 of the tongue due to long-term convulsions. This disease is a slowly progressive disease and generally does not improve or heal on its own. If left untreated, some patients will develop facial muscle paralysis in the late stage of the disease and the convulsions will stop on their own.

3. Treatment of hemifacial spasm, the advantages and disadvantages of various treatment methods for hemifacial spasm

Medicine, acupuncture, Chinese medicine, and massage cannot cure hemifacial spasm

For primary hemifacial spasm, medication, acupuncture, Chinese medicine, and massage may temporarily relieve symptoms, but because they cannot eliminate the cause of vascular compression, they have no long-term therapeutic effect.

Botulinum toxin is effective in the short term for the treatment of hemifacial spasm

Botulinum toxin injection can reduce the conduction of electrical signals in the facial nerve. The first injection can control symptoms for 3-6 months. After the botulinum toxin is metabolized, symptoms will recur and repeated injections are required. Common complications include facial paralysis, dry eyes, diplopia, dysphagia, etc. The probability of these complications occurring with each injection is low, but after 3 years of cumulative injections, the incidence rate reaches 60% to 75%.

Radiofrequency thermocoagulation, facial nerve combing, alcohol seal, gamma knife

Percutaneous facial nerve radiofrequency thermocoagulation, facial nerve combing, alcohol blockade, etc., all have unsatisfactory therapeutic effects. There have been reports on the use of gamma knife to treat hemifacial spasm, but it is still in the clinical efficacy evaluation stage.