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What causes eyebrow twitching? Related conditions and treatments

Medically reviewed by Leslie Greenberg, MD
Board-Certified Family Physician
Updated May. 8, 2024  •  Published Jan. 23, 2024
Fact Checked
What causes eyebrow twitching? Related conditions and treatments
In this article:

What does eyebrow twitching look like?

Eyebrow twitching is a common and nearly always harmless symptom. If eyebrows twitch uncontrollably for a few hours or days, it’s usually due to a temporary problem like stress, sleepiness, or caffeine. Sometimes, however, eyebrow twitching can continue for days or weeks without a known cause. If there’s a problem to be concerned about, there will usually be symptoms like eyelid twitching, eyelid closing, facial spasms, or other muscle problems in the face. Some medical conditions that cause eyelid twitching also cause muscle problems throughout the body: movement problems, weakness, and other issues. When this is true, eyebrow twitching is usually the least concerning symptom.

Key takeaways:

  • Eyebrow twitching is a common symptom that stress, anxiety, caffeine, alcohol, lack of sleep, medication side effects, and some neurological disorders can cause.

  • Typically, eyebrow twitching does not require immediate medical attention.

  • Eyebrow twitching generally does not require treatment unless it persists for longer than two weeks or is accompanied by other symptoms. It typically resolves without treatment in less than a day.

  • Treatments of eyebrow twitching vary by cause. Symptomatic treatment of eyebrow spasms may include prescription medications or behavioral therapy, including treatments for anxiety, multiple sclerosis, and Bell’s palsy.

  • Eyebrow twitching can decrease with good sleep hygiene, reducing stress, relaxation techniques, and cutting back on caffeine or alcohol.

  • Save on prescriptions for eyebrow twitching with a SingleCare prescription discount card.

What causes eyebrow twitching?

Most of the time, eyebrow twitching is relatively harmless and temporary. Most are due to people getting worked up emotionally or otherwise. Things like stress, worry, excitement, or even happiness can induce a variety of facial tics, including blinking, eyebrow-raising, and eyebrow twitching. The most common causes of eyebrow twitching are:

  • Stress

  • Worry or anxiety

  • Not getting enough sleep

  • Drinking too much caffeine

  • Drinking too much alcohol

  • Eye strain

Another set of harmless causes are those that cause eye irritation, blinking, or eyelid twitching. Eyebrow twitching may be just one accompanying reaction. Though not entirely harmless, these causes of eyebrow twitching are not medical conditions to worry about. They include:

  • Dry eye

  • Irritants in the eye, like dust, pollution, or cigarette smoke

  • Light sensitivity

  • Allergies

  • Exercise

  • Eye strain

Magnesium or potassium deficiency could cause eyebrow twitching or other muscle spasms. However, these nutritional deficiencies usually cause more obvious symptoms such as systemic weakness, tremors, and nausea.

Some medicines cause unwanted facial tics or involuntary facial movements, including eyebrow twitching. Most of the time, there will be multiple facial or body spasms. These other involuntary spasms or movements will probably be more obvious than eyebrow twitching. Medications that can cause facial twitches include:

  • Antipsychotics such as Clozaril (clozapine)

  • Anticonvulsants such as Topamax (topiramate)

  • Stimulants and amphetamines can cause facial tics such as eyebrow twitching

  • Parkinson’s disease drugs can cause twitches, involuntary movements, and excessive eye blinking or twitching

  • Diuretics can cause twitches if they lead to a potassium or magnesium deficiency

Less commonly, eyebrow twitching could be due to nervous system problems that cause muscle spasms (dystonia) or tics. These disorders can affect either the central nervous system or the peripheral nerves. Possible nervous system causes of eyebrow twitching include:

  • Benign essential blepharospasm (chronic eyelid twitching)

  • Hemifacial spasm (facial muscle spasms on one side of the face)

  • Bell’s palsy (causes muscle paralysis on one side of the face and muscle twitching on parts of the face)

  • Meige syndrome (causes multiple facial muscle spasms)

  • Tourette syndrome (a tic disorder)

  • Multiple sclerosis

  • Stroke

  • Cerebral palsy

  • Encephalitis

Many of these are alarming causes, so be assured that there will be other more obvious and concerning symptoms affecting parts of your face or the rest of the body. If the only thing going wrong is eyebrow twitching or eyebrow-raising, it’s probably not a stroke or multiple sclerosis.

Should I be worried about eyebrow twitching?

If the only problem is eyebrow twitching, it’s usually harmless. If eyebrow twitching persists for longer than two weeks, get medical advice from a healthcare provider.

Otherwise, let other symptoms be your guide. See a healthcare professional if you notice eyebrow twitching along with other symptoms such as:

  • Eyelid spasms

  • Eye dropping

  • Inability to close an eyelid

  • Facial drooping

  • Facial spasms

  • Muscle twitching elsewhere on the body

  • Involuntary movements

  • Muscle rigidity

  • Muscle weakness

  • Fatigue

In terms of emergency care, again, let symptoms be your guide. Get immediate medical care if you experience symptoms like:

  • Vision changes

  • Paralysis

  • Slurring or slowing of speech

  • Difficulty swallowing

  • Confusion

  • Difficulty finding words or saying what you intend to say

These are possible symptoms of a more serious neurological condition. Go to an emergency room if symptoms like these appear suddenly and without warning.

How is the cause of eyebrow twitching diagnosed?

Because there are so many possible causes of eyebrow spasms, a clinician will be guided by symptoms, a medical history, and initial findings on a physical examination. If there are no other symptoms, expect to answer questions about:

  • Stress

  • Anxiety

  • Sleep habits

  • Caffeine intake

  • Medications

If there’s eye twitching, too, the clinician will want to know about allergies and smoking. The clinician may look for evidence of dry eye, eye infection, or an eyelid infection. If so, the clinician may treat that problem or refer you to an ophthalmologist.

There’s a good chance the clinician will send you home with recommended lifestyle changes dealing with stress, caffeine intake, sleep hygiene, or medication changes to see if those will work.

If there’s a reason to suspect a nervous system disorder as the underlying cause, the clinician may refer the case to a specialist in nervous system disorders called a neurologist. A variety of tests may be performed, including:

  • Blood tests

  • X-rays, CT scans, MRIs, or ultrasound tests

  • Nerve conduction studies

  • Electromyography

  • Spinal tap

How long does eyebrow twitching last?

In most cases, eyebrow twitching goes away in a few minutes, a few days, or a few weeks. In some cases, eyebrow spasms may be due to a treatable underlying condition such as dry eye. The twitching and other symptoms should resolve upon treatment. In other cases, eyebrow spasms may be due to chronic or even lifelong conditions such as benign blepharospasm or Parkinson’s disease.

How to stop eyebrow twitching

In the majority of cases, most eyebrow-twitching treatments consist of lifestyle changes or other straightforward fixes such as:

  • Stress reduction

  • Relaxation techniques

  • Good sleep hygiene

  • Caffeine intake reduction

  • Alcohol intake reduction

  • Smoking cessation

  • Dietary changes

  • Dry eye treatments such as lubricating eye drops

  • Medication changes

  • Avoiding allergens

In some cases, eyebrow twitching is an anxiety tic that can be improved by reducing stress and tiredness. A healthcare professional may prescribe anti-anxiety medications. People can suppress anxiety tics with therapies such as habit removal therapy (HRT) or comprehensive behavioral intervention for tics (CBiT). These behavioral therapies teach skills to help people suppress tics like twitching. CBIT is also an effective intervention for children and adults with Tourette’s or other tic disorders.

If the problem is due to a nervous system disorder affecting the face, treatment will be more complex. For disorders that primarily affect the face, treatment will depend on the condition:

  • Benign essential blepharospasm (BEP) and hemifacial spasm are often treated with Botox injections (botulinum toxin) or medications

  • Bell’s palsy typically resolves on its own, but treatments may include eye drops to prevent dry eye, corticosteroids, or antiviral drugs

Treatments of other nervous system disorders vary widely depending on the underlying condition. For the reduction of tics and spasms due to nervous system disorders, doctors can prescribe anticonvulsants or antipsychotics.

RELATED: Stress vs. anxiety: compare causes, symptoms, treatments, & more

Living with eyebrow twitching

If eyelid twitching is a regular issue and not due to an underlying nervous system disorder, then lifestyle changes can help reduce the incidence:

  • Manage stress by regularly practicing relaxation techniques such as meditation, yoga, and mindfulness

  • Reduce caffeine intake

  • Cut back on alcohol consumption

  • Quit smoking

  • Eat a healthy and well-balanced diet

  • Engage in relaxing and sleep-inducing activities before going to bed, such as yoga, meditation, or taking a hot bath

  • Go to bed at the same time each night and wake up at the same time each morning

  • Bed should be reserved for sex or sleep. Turn off all the lights and get rid of all distractions

  • If necessary, use a gentle sleep-inducing aid like melatonin supplements rather than antihistamines or prescription medications

Most importantly, don’t panic

Eyebrow twitching, or eye twitching in general, is usually not something to worry about if it’s the only symptom. If it’s related to a more serious problem, then you probably won’t be worried about your eyebrows. You’ll have enough on your hands with other issues like facial spasms, drooping face, muscle weakness, pain, and a host of other symptoms, depending on the underlying condition.

However, it isn’t unreasonable to worry if eyebrow twitching keeps happening or takes a while to get better. That doesn’t necessarily point to a disease, but it’s usually something you’re doing that you should probably not do. Like what? Worrying too much. Drinking too much caffeine. Not sleeping at night. Healthcare professionals call these “harmless” or “benign” causes. If unhealthy eating or not sleeping well are regular occurrences, fix them, or your health will likely suffer. If they’re too hard to fix, ask a healthcare professional for medical advice.

Additional resources for people with eyebrow twitching

Test and diagnostics

Treatments

Scientific studies and clinical trials

Medically reviewed by Leslie Greenberg, MD
Board-Certified Family Physician

Leslie Greenberg, MD, is a board-certified practicing family physician with more than 25 years of doctoring experience. She was a psychology major at Northwestern University near Chicago, then graduated with an MD from the University of Nevada School of Medicine. She completed her family medicine residency at St. Joseph Hospital in Wichita, Kansas. She has trained more than 350 family medicine resident-physicians, been in private practice, and delivered babies for 22 years.

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