What's the purpose of an involuntary muscle twitch?

[Cheezy the Wiz]

I always wondered this: why do you muscles 'just twitch' sometimes? What purpose does it serve?

Along those lines, why do you get thay annoying knee-jekr reflex thing when you're sleeping sometimes, you know, when your leg just jumps up nad you wake up like someone just smacked you across the face?

 

[Godwynn]

I sometimes get a tic in my left bottom eyelid.

It's a nice way to make me go crazy, insane, and maybe homicidal.

 

[Field_Marshal]

I always wondered this: why do you muscles 'just twitch' sometimes? What purpose does it serve?

Along those lines, why do you get thay annoying knee-jekr reflex thing when you're sleeping sometimes, you know, when your leg just jumps up nad you wake up like someone just smacked you across the face?

I think thats why its involuntary, it has no purpose. As for why it happens, ill open wiki in a new tab right now.

 

[Brighteye]

My muscles never 'just twitch'.

 

[Kan' Sharuminar]

I sometimes get a tic in my left bottom eyelid.

It's a nice way to make me go crazy, insane, and maybe homicidal.

I get it on the right eye. And I quite agree.

 

[Lotus49]

There was a time last year, when I was playing a PC game that required me to click the mouse over and over - a lot, and after a while I started to get an involuntary twitch in my index finger, that does the clicking. Pretty annoying.

Then about a month ago, for like a week straight, I had this twitch on one of my upper eyelids. Almost drove me crazy. I couldn't stop it, no matter what I did.

 

[Sh3kel]

It's there to let you know you're straining the muscle too much. Twitching in your major muscle groups can be the result of working out too intensly for your current capacity - benchpressing 40kgs right off the bat will make every part of your upper torso wish for death and spasm incontrolably if done repeatedly, so your regular muscle twitch or cramp is a sign you're putting too much stress on it. Solution? Stop whatever motion it is you're doing that requires that muscle group and let it rest. If the twitch doesn't subside after a prolonged resting period, or if it twitches without you using the muscle (calf muscle twitching while you're sitting down in class) - see a doctor.

Eye twitches can be remedied by wearing prescription eyeglasses with your proper prescription - so go see an eye doctor if it happens on a regular basis.

 

[BaneBlade]

I always wondered this: why do you muscles 'just twitch' sometimes? What purpose does it serve?

Along those lines, why do you get thay annoying knee-jekr reflex thing when you're sleeping sometimes, you know, when your leg just jumps up nad you wake up like someone just smacked you across the face?

How it was explained to me by a befriended psychologist you would actually DO all the weird stuff you dream if it weren't for a filter-mechanism.
When you're in near-sleep state this filters in your brain doesn't work correctly.

 

[silver 2039]

Along those lines, why do you get thay annoying knee-jekr reflex thing when you're sleeping sometimes, you know, when your leg just jumps up nad you wake up like someone just smacked you across the face?

That happened to me just last night....

 

[Chieftess]

Don't you just hate it when you're half-asleep and you "fall" in your sleep, and you know you're gonna have a huge muscle twitch? Happens to me sometimes. It's probably your brain 'daydreaming' and reacting automatically.

 

[Neomega]

muscle twitches:

The eylelids thing ~ I discovered that was a combination of a comuter screen running at one frequency, and the flourescent light at another at work, because once I stopped workign their, the twitching stopped. (thank goodness, I thought it was abrain tumor or something)


other muscles twitching ~ if it happens enough, you need more zinc, magesium and calcium in your diet.. My dad saud he had a twitching problem, took those supplements, and they stopped.

 

[Heretic_Cata]

A lot of muscles of mine twitch.

Eyelids stopped twitching a while ago ...

I agree that one explanation might be low calcium levels. I just broke my lowest calcium levels ever record about a month ago. I had some injectable treatment, and now i take pills. The twitching didn't stop, it's still there, but it's rarer than that time ...
That's why i think calcium might be 1 of many possible causes.
Stress is of course another one.

 

[Mytigodess]

My husband gets it all the time in his leg muscles. He could just be resting and out of nowhere the muscles would go into spasm, although he says it doesn't hurt, they do look very active.

I've heard all sorts of theories on this including it is a lack of certain vitamins, a hereditary condition, stress...but all say it is harmless.

 

[Syterion]

Randomly(probably once a month), I get a leg twitch when it's inactive, usually in the quadriceps. I never really thought it was a problem, it goes away pretty quickly and happens rarely. But now Sh3k3ls advice scares me.

 

[Theryman]

How it was explained to me by a befriended psychologist you would actually DO all the weird stuff you dream if it weren't for a filter-mechanism.
When you're in near-sleep state this filters in your brain doesn't work correctly.

That happens to me so often. I will be half asleep, and thinking of something or another. If something happens to me in my thoughts (something gets thrown at me, I fall), I basically have a real quick spasm, waking me up completely.

 

[GoodSarmatian]

I sometimes get a tic in my left bottom eyelid.

Only happens to me when I don't sleep enough...

 

[nivi]

I get a twitch in my quads if I raise my heel off the ground and keep it elevated, other then that no.

 

[Heretic_Cata]

It's there to let you know you're straining the muscle too much. Twitching in your major muscle groups can be the result of working out too intensly for your current capacity - benchpressing 40kgs right off the bat will make every part of your upper torso wish for death and spasm incontrolably if done repeatedly, so your regular muscle twitch or cramp is a sign you're putting too much stress on it. Solution? Stop whatever motion it is you're doing that requires that muscle group and let it rest. If the twitch doesn't subside after a prolonged resting period, or if it twitches without you using the muscle (calf muscle twitching while you're sitting down in class) - see a doctor.

Oh yea, i used to get those types of twitches ALL the time while working out.
But it's the ones that happen after i stopped working out which are strange ...

 

[bathsheba666]

Squeeze out the last drop?

 

[AL_DA_GREAT]

they are caused by tiredness aswell. The muscles twitch because they have taken to much (lack of sleep and physical strains). Resting helps.