Hemifacial spasm is a condition that affects half of your face. It usually starts with a twitching around one eye. It may gradually involve your mouth also. There are different types of treatment. Although the condition is not dangerous, it can affect quality of life.

When Michael Watkins came to see neurosurgeon, Garni Barkhoudarian, MD, in , he had been experiencing facial spasms for over two years. In , Michael Watkins began noticing unusual spasms and twitching on the left side of his face. Initially the spasms improved spontaneously, only to recur one year later, and this time much more noticeably.

These tics are usually not painful, although they can be uncomfortable, and they are usually not life-threatening. But they are distressing to the patient, and as the condition worsens the tics can become more and more frequent and intrusive. Hemifacial spasm can affect both men and women, but it is most common in middle-aged and older women; its incidence is also higher among Asian people. Hemifacial spasm is a neuromuscular disorder — meaning that the source of the disorder is a nerve, but the manifestation is the tic, which is a muscular contraction.