Is Muscle Twitching a Sign of Something Sinister?

[GuitarStar11]

I read someplace that neurologists sometimes flick muscles to see if it produces a twitch and if they twitch this can be a telltale sign of ***. Is that truly a sign of something sinister? When I flick my lower lip it twitches.Thanks!

 

[Gracer]

nope. especially if it is a twitch in your fascial muscle which is a sign of fascial nerve hyperexcitability, common in our condition

 

[XinaMae535]

Why do they flick? Are they trying to see if it produces a twitch and if so, that means BFS or PNH?

 

[RhinoWebster]

if you hit the nerve or the muscle surrounding it just right - it will twitch

 

[XinaMae535]

Ok, I wanted to stay away, but now I have to post.I flicked the thenar muscle on the palm side by my thumb on both hands and they both moved around for a second or two before stopping. Same with the muscle between the index and thumb on the back side of both hands.When I tense the muscles, like make them hard, then flick them, nothing happens.I am over here flicking and slapping my whole body. So far the only other place are my lips. With my mouth closed gently, I will flick my lips and then they will quiver for a little bit.

 

[XinaMae535]

also, I held out my palm, relaxed, then hit my thenar kinda hard with my remote controller, and my thumb contracted upward for a little bit before going back down.Isn't this "percussion myotonia"?Any other BFSers out there who have this?I read about myotonias here: and there is a myotonia that only affects skeletal muscle:The Nondystrophic MyotoniasThe nondystrophic myotonias are pure skeletal musclediseases without the involvement of the heart, brain, eyeor other tissues. Myotonia can be dramatic and sometimesdisabling. Emotional surprises, cold, potassium or exerciseare potential triggers for myotonia. Muscle weakness andwasting are not prominent. The nondystrophic myotoniasare ion channel disorders caused by conventionalpoint mutations or deletions in the chloride or sodiumchannel genes with exclusive expression in skeletalmuscle.[32-35] Diagnosis is mostly based on clinicalpresentation by careful history and physical examination.Ancillary tests such as EMG and nerve conduction studiesmay be helpful. Gene tests are usually not required to makethe diagnosis. Myotonia and other symptoms are easilymanageable by activity modifications, avoiding certaintriggers, and pharmacological therapies. Prognosis isgenerally excellent.

 

[XinaMae535]

I wanted to come back to this and say that I had 6 of my "non-BFS" friends flick their thenar thumb muscle and 2 of them had the same reaction. One male, one female.Then, I took 15mg of Flexeril before bed last night. Besides sleeping like a baby, I felt NO twitches when I woke up, for a long time. AND the whole morning, I flicked my thumb thenar muscle, and it had NO reaction, zero twitches. Later on in the day, when my twitches started up again, I flicked my thenar muscle again, and there were the twitches again.So, for me, this tells me, when I am relaxed and my muscles are relaxed, the twitches (whether they are produced by flick or not) die down or totally go away.