Females are more likely to suffer from involuntary contractions of the lip muscles. If the lower lip twitches, the reasons for this phenomenon may lie in various nervous experiences, stress, and psycho-emotional stress. In this case, the lower lip often twitches on only one side. Involuntary contractions usually go away quickly on their own. In very rare cases, the shaking lasts for several days. In such a situation, tremor of the facial muscles requires examination and treatment by qualified specialists.
Why does my lip twitch?
Why the lower lip twitches is a question that worries a person, since this condition causes discomfort or even frightens. Nervous tics can occur periodically in every person. This is when certain groups of facial muscles contract or twitch. When the lower lip twitches, the most common cause is nervous exhaustion. A facial tic occurs due to damage to a branch of the trigeminal nerve, its inflammation or pinching.
A lip tic is often one of the signals that some kind of disturbance is occurring in the central nervous system. Frequent stereotypical muscle contractions are a companion to brain injuries, infectious processes, atherosclerosis, encephalitis, and leptospirosis. Often pulsation occurs with increased excitability, due to stress, overexertion, intense excitement. In this case, this is a kind of release of emotions. Twitching also has an inorganic basis. This may indicate a lack of minerals such as calcium, magnesium or glycine in the body.
Taking antidepressants: justified or not?
The minimum duration of a course of antidepressants is three months. Many patients are forced to take this type of medication for years, as negative symptoms return after discontinuation. However, often it is antidepressants that help a person live a full life, forget about anxiety, fears, panic attacks, and facial tics.
The most popular prescription antidepressants today are:
- "Prozac";
- "Paxil";
- "Trittiko";
- Zoloft.
Often a mild tranquilizer is also prescribed in parallel - for example, Atarax. This scheme helps to quickly reduce the patient’s psycho-emotional stress.
Nervous tic of the lower lip
The main causes of pulsation or twitching of the lower lip include:
- Manifestation of nervousness. This usually happens in emotional people. To relieve tension when your lips twitch, it is recommended to relax, rest, and do acupressure. For those people who have a balanced character, such phenomena occur very rarely.
- Deficiency of vitamins and minerals, in particular calcium, glycine and magnesium, can cause twitching of the facial muscles.
- Serious health problems are also accompanied by such symptoms. With the development of viral infectious diseases, twitching of various parts of the facial muscles occurs. Such diseases most often include: meningitis, meningoencephalitis, encephalitis, neurobrucellosis, leptospirosis. In this case, you should definitely consult a doctor, because such conditions are dangerous not only for health, but also for life.
- Genetic predisposition. If one of the parents has such a muscle disorder, there is a high probability of it developing in their children.
- Spasms and cramps of the lips may be preceded by a traumatic brain injury. After proper treatment, this condition usually goes away on its own.
Contacting a specialist is recommended if such a symptom is complemented by other signs and also persists for a long time.
Nervous tic of the upper lip
Why does my upper lip twitch? Most often these are disturbances in the functioning of the trigeminal nerve. The reasons why the upper lip twitches include:
- Hypothermia and prolonged exposure to a draft can cause cramps and muscle numbness.
- Nervous diseases, in particular Parkinson's disease, are accompanied by shaking of the entire right or left side.
- Facial injuries and traumatic brain injury.
- Genetic predisposition.
- This may also be the result of undergoing certain cosmetic procedures (injections of anti-aging drugs - Botox, hyaluronic acid, fillers; lip augmentation).
- Dental surgeries or procedures.
- In an infant, this condition can be triggered by a previous vaccination.
With frequent muscle twitching, you can suspect certain psychological problems caused by stress and emotional fatigue. It may also be an initial symptom of a developing nervous disease. You should consult a specialist if the pulsation is accompanied by other symptoms, if this condition causes severe discomfort or persists for a long time.
In winter, this condition may indicate a malfunction of the body. During attacks by viral agents, with the development of conjunctivitis, blepharitis, such a symptom is not uncommon. In case of disorders of the nervous structure, the causes may be sleeping at night in an uncomfortable position, poor lifestyle, in particular, poor nutrition (when the diet lacks a large amount of vitamins and minerals).
You can determine exactly what caused the damage to the branches of the trigeminal nerve by visiting a neurologist.
Tremor in children
Lip tremors in infants are considered normal until three months of age. In this case, not only the upper or lower lip of the newborn may twitch, but also the chin on one side or both, the upper or lower limbs. This condition is explained by the fact that the nervous and endocrine systems are still immature. With intense expression of emotions in a baby, the adrenal glands cannot cope with large amounts of norepinephrine, and the brain cannot yet control the movements of individual parts of the body. Normally, this symptom appears with prolonged crying or excessive fatigue.
When to be concerned:
- if tremor persists after three months;
- when the child appears in a calm state;
- with trembling not only of the lips, but also of the head.
There are a number of provoking factors that directly affect the appearance of lip tremors in children, and they will not go away on their own:
- intrauterine fetal hypoxia;
- birth of a baby prematurely;
- the presence of hypertonicity of muscle tissue;
- frequent stress and emotional stress in women during pregnancy.
If this phenomenon is short-term and does not occur when the baby is in a calm state, there is no need to worry. Otherwise, it is recommended to visit a pediatric neurologist. Treatment in this case involves massage, gymnastics, and physical therapy.
How does it manifest itself?
A nervous tic is manifested by pulsating or twitching of a certain part of the upper or lower lip. Adults feel twitching of the lower lip or pulsation. Children cannot yet explain their condition. Usually, when pulsation is felt, the baby twists his mouth and may pull his chin. Children may grimace when talking. All these manifestations do not go unnoticed. If they are short-term, this is the norm.
Mild sedatives
Often, to get rid of facial tics, neurologists prescribe the following sedatives:
- "Novopassit";
- "Travisil";
- "Afobazole";
- "Berocca".
The average duration of treatment is about two months. Some patients note that facial nervous tics disappear within the first week of treatment.
Diagnosis in children
A pediatric neurologist is involved in examination and treatment. You need to contact him in the following cases:
- if the lip twitches very strongly;
- with multiple tics;
- in the presence of physical discomfort due to a nervous tic;
- in case of violations of social adaptation against the background of a similar condition;
- if this condition has been present for more than one month.
At the appointment, the doctor collects anamnestic data, collects information about when the problem appeared, what preceded such a symptom, whether there are injuries or diseases, whether anyone in the family has a similar condition.
In addition to conducting an external examination, the specialist prescribes instrumental and laboratory diagnostic measures: a general blood test, ionogram, test for helminthiasis, magnetic resonance imaging, electroencephalography.
Causes of glossalgia
Many patients with glossalgia associate the appearance of the symptom with trauma to the tongue from sharp edges of fillings or teeth with chipped enamel, as well as incorrectly installed crowns and dentures. More often, the disease appears after disorders of the autonomic nervous system. As the disease progresses, it becomes chronic.
This is a functional disorder that has no organic causes. Researchers associate its appearance with diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. Most often there is a combination of disorders of the nervous system, vascular lesions and diseases of the digestive system. A stimulating factor can be diseases that lead to a decrease in tissue sensitivity or change the response to mechanical stimuli.
Glossalgia can also develop against the background of the following diseases:
- ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke;
- encephalitis of any origin;
- neurosyphilis.
Aggravating factors may include hypovitaminosis, lack of iron, minerals, endocrine diseases, infections and autoimmune pathologies. The disease is also affected by taking certain medications - chemotherapy drugs, antihistamines, etc.
Research shows that the disease may be one of the signs of viscero-reflex bulbar syndrome, which affects the vagus and glossopharyngeal nerves. Disturbances in the transmission of nerve impulses cause glossalgia, as they lead to the appearance of false sensations. And external irritants can only intensify the symptom, which explains the high incidence of the disease in people with dentures and crowns.
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Drug treatment
What to do if your lips twitch? You need to adjust your diet. The menu should contain all the necessary vitamins and minerals: magnesium, glycine, vitamin C, B, D, E, A, calcium. To quickly alleviate the condition, you can independently take noshpa or spasmalgon and a mild sedative (valerian or motherwort).
If this condition occurs in children, it cannot be treated with any medications. It is better to consult a doctor, undergo examination and treatment. Multivitamin complexes and soothing teas are prescribed. For some people, treatment is done through hypnosis. You also need to change your lifestyle and improve your diet.
The doctor usually prescribes the following medications: novo-passit, thioridazine, cinnarizine, phenibut, haloperidol, diazepam, calcium gluconate. Infusions of motherwort, valerian, hops, chamomile, and hawthorn are also prescribed. The doctor also prescribes a course of relaxing massage, electrosleep, and acupuncture. In particularly advanced cases, an injection of botulinum toxin will help.
What can you do at home?
If your lip or tip of your mouth twitches, you can perform a self-massage - massage your forehead, temples, wings of the nose, earlobes, and neck. Relax, relax, or take an aromatic bath. Drink tea from lemon balm, mint, thyme and motherwort. If this condition occurs in a child, it is recommended to take the following measures:
- distract the child (but not with a computer or TV);
- do not focus the baby’s attention on this symptom;
- protect from stress;
- establish proper sleep;
- visit a doctor.
Herbal sedative for nervous tics
Herbal tea "Fitosedan" is a tea made from natural herbs - valerian, motherwort, hops. Normalizes sleep and has a mild calming effect. If the facial tic is not clearly expressed and only bothers you during periods of stress, then you can get by with taking Phytosedan.
The product can be purchased at any pharmacy; you do not need a prescription from a doctor. The duration of treatment is about one month. “Phytosedan” does not cause drug dependence; you can stop taking it at any time without fear that it will negatively affect your psychological or physical state.
Problem prevention and prognosis
To prevent lips from starting to twitch, there are certain preventive measures: ensure proper rest, learn to cope with stress, improve nutrition, walk in the fresh air, ventilate the room. If your muscles are twitching, you can perfectly relax with the help of an aroma bath or massage.
It is recommended to limit watching TV and being in front of a computer screen, especially before bed. Do not eat protein foods at night. The recommendations listed apply to both adults and children. Moreover, for children, being in front of a computer and TV should be strictly regulated, depending on their age category. Also, do not ignore any alarming symptoms. It is better to visit a doctor and rule out possible dangerous diseases. Most often, the doctor does not even resort to prescribing medications. A course of multivitamins, relaxing massage, physiotherapeutic procedures, and psychotherapy is sufficient.
Chief author and editor-in-chief: Makarskaya S.E., 29 years of experience.
Last revision: 03/18/2018
Let's talk about lips and their roles
Lips. Why is it important to take into account their position, turgor and degree of activity when diagnosing any malocclusion and curvature of teeth? And what can we suggest if we detect a dysfunction? The question about lips is not random. This is asked very often by patients. The fact that the tongue is involved in the formation of the dentofacial system is already known to many orthodontists, and even to the most interested patients. Everyone has long been accustomed to this. And they undeservedly forget about lips. Here is the time to remember about myodynamic balance (balance of tone and coordination of the work of muscles of different groups), when violated, we get various types of bite deformities and curvature of teeth.
