Top eye doctor explains real reasons why you occasionally get a 'twitch' in your eye

An eye doctor has explained the simple reason why so many of us get random eye twitches - and whether or not it's a medical concern.

Those pesky eyelid twitches. We'll be going about our day-to-day lives and then suddenly our eye decides to try and blink of nowhere.

It happens so quickly that our eyes have finished twitching before we've even had time to wonder if anyone else noticed it - but have you ever wanted to know why your eyelid occasionally acts up?

We've all experienced our eyelid randomly start vibrating (Getty Stock Images)

Turns out it's a pretty common occurrence for the majority of people.

Dr Joseph Allen is on-hand to explain this phenomena for us, revealing the reason behind these muscle spasms during an interview on Steven Bartlett's Diary of a CEO podcast.

"Every once in an while my eyelid starts twitching - what is that?" Bartlett questioned, to which Allen revealed it's due to a condition called 'eyelid myokymia'.

What is eyelid myokymia?

Don't be put off by the long and scientific-sounding name, eyelid myokymia is very common condition and nothing to be afraid of.

Myokymia is caused by a brief involuntary contraction of the muscles in the eyelids, All About Vision adds that while 'eye spasms can be annoying, they’re almost never cause for concern'.

What causes eyelid myokymia?

Allen revealed that muscle contractions in the eyelid was often referred to as 'medical student twitching eye' as the condition is most likely to happen to somebody who is feeling 'stressed'.

"It's usually people who are stressed out," Allen explained. "People who are not sleeping too well and drinking way too many stimulants."

Dr Allen explained that eye twitches are usually nothing to worry about (YouTube/TheDiaryOfACEO)

The doctor went on to reveal that he often sees patients who will come in to see him complaining about eye twitches while drinking an 'energy drink'.

Can eyelid twitches be a sign of anything serious?

While Allen explained that for the majority of people who experience eye twitches have nothing to be concerned about, he added that a small percentage of cases can be caused by a rare condition caused a blepharospasm.

This is a neurological disorder where a person's eyelids 'close involuntarily' and occurs in both eyes at the same time.

Treatments for a blepharospasm includes botox injections or even surgery.

However Allen was quick to add that the vast majority of people who have the occasional twitchy eye don't need to worry.

"Get more sleep, stop drinking so much caffeine and try to look at your stress levels," he added.

If only reducing stress levels was that easy.