Twitching Muscles? Know Your Muscle Twitching

Okay, muscle twitching is a hot topic in cyberspace. Millions of men and women have twitching muscles. Many of them freak out and think muscle twitching means the deadly disease ALS because muscle twitching is an ALS symptom. But don't fear; twitching muscles is a part of normal muscle function.

We evolved to have twitchy muscles. A primary cause of muscle twitching is anxiety and stress. Our muscles twitch in response to anxiety because they anticipate action. So they kind of get revved up; they twitch. Strenuous exercise is also a major cause of muscle twitching, particularly strength training. The more you get to know your muscles and their twitching habits, the more at ease you will be if muscle twitching frightens you.

A twitch of muscles can occur in any muscle that moves voluntarily. So think of which muscles you CANNOT move with free will. Two muscles should come to mind: the heart, and the uterus. The heart and uterus are muscles, but we cannot move them by will. But all skeletal muscles are what are known as voluntary muscles, because we can will them to move.

Most common sites for muscle twitches:

Calves

Arches of feet

Hamstrings (back of legs)

Quadriceps (thighs)

Butt

The next muscle twitch group is:

Chest

Back

Neck

Shoulders

Arms

Fingers

Toes

However, people have claimed to experience muscle twitches at various points on their faces, such as above the upper lip, below the lower lip, the temple, back of head, top of head, forehead, and of course, the notorious eyelid twitches.

The tongue is also a muscle, so this means that twitching can occur in the tongue. This can scare the crap out of some people who know that tongue twitching is a symptom of what's known as bulbar-onset ALS. But by the time the ALS victim experiences bulbar twitching, he is already having difficulty swallowing, trouble chewing food, and usually trouble speaking.

If the hypochondriac gets carried away, his anxiety will cause him to perceive the sensation of difficulty swallowing, and he'll begin "hearing" his speech become slurred. These are imagined symptoms that fear causes.