Facial hemispasm usually appears in middle to elderly life. May be associated with banal infection and mild draft.
Manifestations
Unilateral, recurring, rapid, locally migrating twitches of bundles of facial muscles most often occurring around the eye or mouth.
Initially intermittent in bursts of minutes to an hour or so but often becomes continuous. Sensory changes are lacking and most examples reflect the compression of the facial nerve at the base of the brain by an adjacent artery.
Treatment
Surgical separation of the facial nerve and artery usually halts the problem.
