Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Botox Anyone?

I can't say, even with the current popularity of botox injections and anti-wrinkle creams, that I have ever longed for the face paralyzing effect of smooth, younger-looking, and significantly stretched out skin. However, I few weeks ago I noticed my left eye twitching. A full-on twitch, my vision blurred and doubled as I attempted to rub the spasticity out of the offending muscle. To my immediate gratification, the vision-impeding twitch stopped. To my subsequent disappointment, a low-grade, lower eyelid twitch set in. . . for a week straight.

I must say that while my lower eyelid twitch was not unbearable, it was like an annoying leech, hanging on below my left eye day and night. Every morning I would wake up, feeling the inevitable tightening under my eye. Though it did not hinder my vision, when I looked in the mirror, the muscle appeared to repeatedly leap from my face at a rapid rate.

I found this constant muscle contraction to be exhausting. My face felt tired. All the time. I was cranky. I felt that I looked strange and people would be repulsed by beholding my contorting facial muscle. Suddenly the paralyzing effects of botox were not looking so bad. . . .


Like a parasite-laden deep sea fish, I eventually became used to my new lot in life. I would be known as the eye-twitching lady. It didn't seem so bad. I could embrace my physical idiosyncracies. Then in the afternoon of day five, it stopped. Looking around, I noticed something missing. . . My eye twitch! It was gone!

Out the window was my new plan to be eye-twitching lady. As Amanda, eye-twitch free, I fell asleep that night with happy visions of future facial flacidity. Until I woke up. With an eye twitch.

It took a couple more days for the twitch to dissipate entirely. I can't say what brought it on or when it will return. Now that it has happened once, my understanding is it is much more likely to happen again. I dread its return. I really do. But I suppose, like an alter ego, I can work on embracing the concept of being occasional eye-twitching lady.

2 comments:

  1. Hm, were you exposed to any neuro-affective toxins before that started, say, solvents/paint-thinners when painting the barn? I used to get a really annoying upper-left-eyelid-twitch and found it to be correlated with nicotine consumption.

    Also, I like your illustration. I'm glad you're ok now.

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    1. No, it started when I was in Portland, so I hadn't been painting the barn recently.

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