Upper lip twitching is common and affects almost one and all. Twitching of lips is an immediate and unusual contraction of the lip muscle. It is an instinctive action and may occur only on lower or upper lips or both the lips at the same time. Twitching may occur because of some stimulation or some nerve being disturbed that connects the lips’ muscle.
Signs and symptoms of upper lip twitching differ from person to person. Some of the symptoms of upper lip twitching are numb feeling or abnormal sensations, and tremors occurring slightly on the upper lip or one side of the face, etc. At times, curling sensation occurs on the edges of upper lip.
Upper lip twitching may occur due to some neurodegenerative condition. The twitching is not harmful and only lasts for some time. Some other reasons for upper lip twitching can be stress, anxieties, smoking, and tiredness. If symptoms persist for a long time, then a doctor should be consulted. It may however be noted that upper lip twitching is easy to cure. Proper guidance from medical expert and few changes in lifestyle can help treat upper lip twitching.
Symptoms
Some signs and symptoms that may accompany upper lip twitching are as follows:
- Muscle cramps
- Muscle weakness
- Constipation
- Fever blisters
- Depression
Causes of Upper lip twitching
Some of the causes of upper lip twitching are listed below:
- Nicotine withdrawal or excess smoking
- Excess intake of alcohol
- Alcohol withdrawal
- Tiredness
- Anxieties
- Electrolyte imbalance
- Excess consumption of caffeine
- Tremors due to consumption of certain drugs
- Use of certain addictive drugs or withdrawal from certain substances: Abuse of drugs or withdrawal from it can cause upper lip twitching. These drugs include heroin, cocaine and such illicit drugs. Also caffeine and soda drinks if taken in excess amounts can cause temporary involuntary muscle contraction of lip.
- DiGeorge Syndrome: This is a hereditary condition marked by developmental defects such as a weak immune system because of innate absence of thymus, cleft palate, heart defects, and low level of calcium. All of these lead to upper lip twitching.
- Hypoparathyrodism: In hypoparathyrodism, low level of parathyroid hormone is released in the body which lowers the level of blood and bone calcium. This leads to upper lip twitching.
One of the common causes for upper lip twitching are neurological disorders. Some of these are as follows:
- Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: It is a kind of neurological illness. When motor neurons in the spinal cord and brain die, it results in weakening of muscles. This further causes muscle twitching which includes upper lip twitching.
- Tourette’s syndrome: It is a hereditary neurological illness wherein unusual instinctive actions and noises called as tics can be observed on the patient. The tics might be vocal or motor tics; vocal tics include grunting, repetitive throat clearing, and sniffing, whereas motor tics refer to sudden temporary repetitive actions of any muscle group. This includes upper lip twitching.
- Bell’s palsy: When any trauma or injury occurs to the nerves supplying the facial nerves, it causes paralysis and temporary weakness of the muscle of one side of the face. This condition is known as Bell’s palsy. A person suffering from Bell’s palsy will also experience upper lip twitching.
- Essential Tremor and emotional trigger: Essential tremor is a state wherein spontaneous muscle contraction occurs due to neurological dysfunction. Unexpected emotional triggers cause upper lip twitching. When upper lip twitching occurs due to emotional trigger, it can be distinguished by pathological causes by studying other symptoms of adrenergic stimulation such as flushing of face, eye watering etc.
- Parkinson’s disease: A person may experience upper lip twitching as a part of the symptoms linked to Parkinson’ illness.
- Hemifacial Spasm: In hemifacial spasm, paralysis of motor functions muscle is a common symptom. It also includes upper lip twitching. Hemifacial spasm occurs due to compression of nerves, especially facial nerves.
Treatment
It is easy to treat upper lip twitching. A medical expert first has to know the cause for twitching of lips and then advise treatment. In case if twitching is mild like twitching of lips due to intake of caffeine, mere changes in lifestyle can soothe the symptoms. If the case is serious, then regular checkup is suggested by the physician. Some common and easy ways to control mild upper lip twitching are:
- Control of consumption of alcohol, caffeine, and such stimulants/depressants.
- If twitching of lips occurs due to emotional triggers, psychotherapy is advised. It can aid in controlling lip twitching.
- In case the person is suffering from upper lip twitching due to hypocalcaemia, consumption of calcium supplement is advised.
- Relaxation methods, yoga, and meditation can help in controlling anxieties and stress.
- Substitute of dopamine also aids in controlling lip twitching in case of Parkinson’s disease.
