Excessive blinking of eye

When we blink, we cleanour eyes from particles that are on our eyeballs. We have tear glands thatproduce liquid that is mostly made of water. Blinking helps tears to get fromthe tear glands to the eyeballs and clean them. Most of us blink 15 to 16 timesin a minute, but when a person blinks 30 to 40 times in a minute, it is calledexcessive blinking.

What causes excessiveeye blinking?

This condition canaffect anyone, but children have it more often than adults. This can be theresult of dry eyes or spasms of an eyelid. It is very uncomfortable condition because it causes other persons to gazefixedly at the sufferer, which is why it can be very irritating for the personwho has this problem.

Dry Eyes. Health experts claimthat excessive blinking is caused by dry eyes. This is a problem that we getwhen our tear glands stop to function properly and secrete lower amount oftears than needed. It is one of the factors that can increase the number ofblinks. If the eyes are dry and our tear glands don’t produce enough tears, there is a need for excessive blinking. It is the most frequent factor thatcauses problems with excessive eye blinking.Presence of Foreign Object. Foreign particles entering the eyes can also lead to excessiveblinking. A foreign object trapped under the lower eyelid causes irritated eyes. This may continue until the particle is removed. Exposure to foreign particles is many a time the culpritfor excessive blinking in toddlers.Eyelid Spasms. Another reason forfrequent blinking is spasms of eyelids. Spasms are muscle movements that we can’tcontrol and their duration is short, about one minute. Some spasms can last longerand in these cases it may seem like the sufferer blinks without stopping.

Other problems thatcause excessive eye blinking

Problems witheyesight, brain disorders, absence seizures and anxiety can also be causes ofexcessive blinking. A child who can’t see clearly or has other problems withvision can blink excessively. If there is any kind of brain disorder, we canexpect that the number of blinks will increase. Absence seizures are caused byabnormalities in electrical activities in the brain and they can be the reasonfor excessive blinking. Distress and anxiety can increase blinking rate, especially, if a child is in a situation that is frightening. Also, when you areunder pressure and when you worry about something for a long time, you could experienceconstant blinking.