What Causes Eye Twitching During Pregnancy?

Eye twitching, also referred to as blepharospasm, is generally an uncontrollable and repetitive blinking or spasm of the eyelid.

Mostly, the issue occurs with the upper eyelid and the exact reason for its occurrence is clearly not known. Some known causes are fatigue, caffeine and stress.

Eye twitching can be a sign for many health problems like blepharitis, light sensitivity, pink or dry eyes, and sometimes most rarely brain or nerve disorder.

What causes eye twitches?

During pregnancy, it is common to undergo stress, fatigue and sleeplessness. These reasons might trigger eye twitching during pregnancy.

Apart from these, eye spasm can also result due to deficiency in vitamins and minerals in the body, like potassium, calcium magnesium, vitamin D etc.

What are the symptoms?

Eye twitches can drive you nuts if it continues for a longer time. You might even feel embarrassed when you are in a crowd.The eyelids blink continuously and the muscles of your eyelids will be literally out of your control.

There are many reasons behind eye twitches, but you should be careful enough to find out the reason behind it. Most of the times, the issue will be resolved with handy remedies and you might not need to visit a doctor.

If you tried all the possible remedies, but still facing the issue, then remember that it might be a sign of a severe health issue and you should see a doctor immediately.

Tip – Can Royal Jelly Supplements Help With Fertility Issues?

Reasons and possible remedies

8 Reasons Mentioned Below

Reason 1: Dry eyes


Dry eyes is one of the reasons for eye spasm. Working women, especially who work for more hours with computers and laptops should be very careful if they suffer eye twitching.

This is because, continuous viewing of computer screen might result in dry eyes. To avoid this, it is a good idea to take short breaks for every 1 hour, and take artificial tears whenever necessary.

Reason 2: Eye strain


Eye strain is another reason for eye spasm. Eyes are strained for many reasons like continuous staring at computer screen or television without anti-glare cover over the screen or by not wearing anti-glare specs, walking in hot sun without sunglasses, using smartphones or tablets for hours without any break etc.

You can take care that your eyes are not strained by wearing anti-glare specs while working on computer or while using mobiles, wear sunglasses while under hot sun and moreover, you should take care that you give at least 5 minutes of break for every hour.

To relieve your eyes from stress, you can cover your eyes with cotton dipped in rose water or cucumber slices to give a cooling effect to your eyes.

Reason 3: Stress


Stress is the most common reason for eye spasm. Many women undergo stress during pregnancy for various reasons.

Try to reduce the stress in your life and ensure that you make yourself happy all the time. Keep all the troubles out of your mind and do not think much about them.

Try listening to music or spend most of your time in your hobbies. Meditation is the best solution to get a great relief from stress.

Reason 4: Teeth grinding or jaw clenching


Some people unknowingly grind their teeth or tighten their jaw muscles when they are in their deep sleep. This problem is often referred to as bruxism.

This creates a lot of strain on the jaw muscles, and sometimes results in eye spasm. If you want to find a remedy for this, it is suggested to wear a mouth guard at night while you are at sleep.

Apart from this, another important step is to self-massage your jaw both inner and outer sides. This treatment does great wonders, though it sounds weird.

Reason 5: Mineral and vitamin deficiency


Nutritional imbalances like calcium, magnesium and vitamin D deficiencies result in eye twitching. If you observe that your eyes are continuously twitching then, according to medical experts, you should better get magnesium levels tested in your body.

If found to be deficient in magnesium levels, you must immediately work on it by taking counter supplements as quickly as possible. Dark chocolate is a good source of magnesium.

Reason 6: Fatigue


Our body needs rest to be fit and healthy. Due to excessive tiredness, if the body does not take appropriate amount of rest, it might lead to several health issues including migraine, losing concentration levels, thinking levels, etc.

Our eyes need proper rest and hence, it is worthy to take a good rest once your body exhausts. If you continue to ignore, eye twitching may be triggered continuously.

Reason 7: Alcohol or Caffeine


The relaxant properties in alcohol and the stimulants in caffeine can result in eye spasm. If you take them in excess amounts, you might surely suffer from twitchy eye.

Instead, doctors suggest to stay normal and hydrated with pure water instead of alcohols or caffeine. Sometimes, artificial sugars also result in twitchy eyes. Hence, it is better to prefer real and natural food.

Reason 8: Allergies


Sometimes, a specific season exists during which, the eyes experience severe irritation. This is because of being allergic to pollen.

During such situations, you might experience eye spasm. The moment you enter such season, you should be careful enough to keep your eyes hydrated all the time.

Also, you should consult good physician to get the best allergy medicine that suits you and makes you comfortable. Do not forget to keep this medicine handy or else, you might end up with eye spasm.


Eye twitches rarely indicate major health problems like Tourette’s syndrome, Hypoglycemia, nervous system disorders and Parkinson’s disease.

If you have tried all the possible ways to get relief from eye twitches and still find no solution, then it is very important to see a doctor.

If you ignore then, you might end up harming your unborn child. After all, you always dream of a healthy baby. Hence, never take things light, especially when you are pregnant.


About the Author Rinne Jacob
