俗話說，左眼跳財(cái)右眼跳災(zāi)。眼皮跳真的和禍福相關(guān)嗎？醫(yī)生表示，事實(shí)上，眼皮跳不能預(yù)示吉兇，但卻和你的身體健康息息相關(guān)。
There you are, minding your own business, when your eye starts to spasm out of control. It’s a very annoying feeling which can persist for hours. But is there any cause for alarm?
有時(shí)候，當(dāng)你專注于做事的時(shí)候，你的眼皮開始不受控制地跳動(dòng)。這是一種令人很煩躁的感覺，有時(shí)會(huì)持續(xù)幾個(gè)小時(shí)。怎么會(huì)這樣？
Trinidadians have quite a rich collection of superstitions concerning jumping eyes. For instance, if your right eye jumps, you are going to hear good news, and if your left eye jumps, you are going to hear bad news. Superstitions aside, the short answer is that a twitching eye is totally fine, although in some exceptional cases it may underlie a neurological condition.
對(duì)此特立尼達(dá)人有許多迷信的解釋。比如，如果是右眼皮跳，那么你將會(huì)聽到好消息；而如果是左眼皮跳，那么你會(huì)聽到不好的消息。拋開迷信解釋不談，對(duì)于眼皮跳原因的簡(jiǎn)短解釋是，沒啥大礙。雖然，在個(gè)別情況下它可能是某種神經(jīng)疾病的起因。
Eye spasm is characterized by the spontaneous contractions of muscle without muscular atrophy or weakness. You might have experienced an involuntary muscle spasmin your knee or elbow. The same can happen to the orbicularis oculi muscle (the muscle in the face that closes the eyelids).
眼皮跳動(dòng)是一種自發(fā)的肌肉收縮，不伴有肌肉萎縮或肌肉無力。你可能經(jīng)歷過膝蓋或者肘部的肌肉無意識(shí)抽搐。同樣的情況也會(huì)發(fā)生在眼輪匝?。ㄑ鄄€附近的肌肉）上。
spasm n. [臨床] 痙攣；抽搐
Eye spams are typically unilateral, occurring in one of the lower eyelids. Sometimes, both eyelids may be involved but the fascicular contractions of each eyelid is independent of each other. The transient and intermittent twitching is semi-rhythmic at a rate of 3-8 Hz.
眼皮抽搐通常出現(xiàn)在某一邊的下眼瞼上。有時(shí)候可能會(huì)涉及兩邊的眼瞼，不過兩邊眼瞼的肌肉收縮彼此獨(dú)立。這種短暫且間歇性抽搐的頻率在3-8赫茲。
In the majority of cases, eyelid spasms are no cause for concern. These are usually self-limiting and benign, so medical intervention is typically unnecessary. Very rarely, eyelid myokymia may occur as a precursor of hemifacial spasm, blepharospasm, Meige syndrome, spastic-paretic facial contracture, and multiple sclerosis.
在大部分情況下，眼皮抽搐沒什么好擔(dān)心的。它們通常是一種自我限制的良性問題，沒必要去醫(yī)院檢查。但在很罕見的情況下，肌纖維顫搐可能是面肌痙攣、眼瞼痙攣、麥杰綜合征、痙攣性麻痹面部抽搐以及多發(fā)性硬化的前兆。
下面是眼皮跳最常見的原因。
壓力 Stress
This is the number-one reason for a twitching eye, according to ophthalmologists. When we're under a lot of pressure, the body releases stress hormones (cortisol) which triggers a “fight or flight” response. One immediate consequence is muscle arousal, which may affect eyelid muscles as well. This may be a good time to see your friends, unwind, or meditate in order to reduce the stress that might be causing the twitching eye.
眼科醫(yī)師表示，壓力是引起眼皮跳的最主要因素。當(dāng)我們感受到很大壓力時(shí)，身體會(huì)釋放壓力荷爾蒙，引發(fā)“戰(zhàn)或逃”反應(yīng)。該反應(yīng)最直接的結(jié)果是肌肉被喚醒，從而可能影響眼瞼肌肉。對(duì)于你而言，這是一個(gè)探望朋友、放松或者冥想以減輕壓力的好時(shí)機(jī)。
ophthalmologists n. 眼科醫(yī)師
unwind vt. 放松；解開
疲勞 Fatigue
Not getting enough sleep or working too much overtime may cause your eye to complain. Scientists aren't sure why, but they've found that getting more rest will make the symptoms subside.
得不到足夠睡眠或者加班過多可能會(huì)使你的眼睛“抱怨”?？茖W(xué)家們并不確定其中的原因?yàn)楹?，但他們發(fā)現(xiàn)多休息能減輕癥狀。
subside vi. 平息；減弱
眼干澀 Dry eyes
More and more people work office jobs that involve a lot of sitting and staring at a computer screen. This sort of lifestyle can lead to dry eye syndrome (DES), also known as keratoconjunctivitis sicca (KCS). Dry eye syndrome is caused by a chronic lack of sufficient lubrication and moisture on the surface of the eye. When our eyes are too dry, they might involuntarily start twitching to keep them moisturized. This repeated blinking can trick the brain into making one or both eyes twitcheven more. To avoid DES, use eye drops if you use the computer for more than seven hours a day and make sure to look away from the screen at least once every 20 minutes.
越來越多的人在辦公室里工作，需要長(zhǎng)時(shí)間坐著并盯著電腦屏幕。這種生活方式會(huì)導(dǎo)致干眼癥，也叫作干燥性角膜結(jié)膜炎。干眼癥由眼睛表面長(zhǎng)期缺乏潤(rùn)滑和滋潤(rùn)導(dǎo)致。當(dāng)我們的眼睛太干燥時(shí)，它們也許會(huì)通過自發(fā)的眼皮跳動(dòng)來保持濕潤(rùn)。眼睛不停眨會(huì)影響大腦，讓一只或者兩只眼睛的眼皮跳動(dòng)更頻繁。為了避免干眼癥，如果你每天用電腦的時(shí)間超過七小時(shí)，那么你可以使用滴眼液，并確保自己每隔二十分鐘讓眼睛至少休息一次。
twitch n. 抽搐；抽動(dòng)；痙攣
咖啡因和酒精 Caffeine and alcohol
Caffeine and alcohol have seemingly polar effects on the body. One is a stimulant while the other is an inhibitor — but both can bring a twitching eye when used in excess. It's important to stay hydrated and to avoid real or artificial sugars when this happens.
咖啡因和酒精對(duì)身體似乎有兩極性影響。一種是興奮作用而另外一種是抑制作用，而它們?cè)陲嬘眠^量的時(shí)候都會(huì)導(dǎo)致眼皮亂跳。這時(shí)你需要補(bǔ)水并避免食用天然糖或者人造糖。
缺乏礦物質(zhì) Mineral deficiencies
A jumping eye might be triggered by magnesium deficiency. If the twitch persists, it’s a good idea to get your magnesium levels checked with a simple blood test. If you really are magnesium deficient, you should focus on eating more foods like almonds, oatmeal, or spinach. You can also take magnesium supplements to meet daily Mg needs.
眼皮亂跳可能由缺鎂導(dǎo)致。如果眼皮一直亂跳，那么你可以通過簡(jiǎn)單的血液測(cè)試來檢查體內(nèi)的鎂含量。如果真的缺鎂，就要多吃杏仁、燕麥片和菠菜，還可以服用鎂補(bǔ)充劑來滿足日常鎂需求。
眼瞼感染 Eyelid infection
Blepharitis occurs when bacteria infect your eyelids, causing inflammation and redness. This makes the muscles around the eye twitchy. Other symptoms include burning or stinging eyes, dandruff at the base of the eye, and grittiness. The treatment of blepharitis should begin with a visit with your eye doctor to determine the cause of your sore, red, itchy eyelids. Eyelid hygiene is very helpful to treat and control blepharitis, and a good place to begin is applying a wet clean warm compress to melt any blocked residue around the eyelid. Repeat this several times a day.
眼瞼有細(xì)菌感染時(shí)，就會(huì)患上瞼緣炎，它會(huì)導(dǎo)致眼睛發(fā)炎和紅腫。這會(huì)導(dǎo)致眼睛周圍的肌肉顫動(dòng)。其他癥狀還包括眼睛灼痛、劇痛，眼睛底部出現(xiàn)皮屑和異物感。這時(shí)你應(yīng)該去看眼科醫(yī)生，了解眼瞼腫痛發(fā)癢的病因。保持眼瞼衛(wèi)生有助于治療和控制瞼緣炎，可以用干凈的熱敷布來按壓眼睛，融化眼瞼里殘留的阻塞物，一天重復(fù)幾次。
dandruff n. 皮屑
grittiness n. 有砂礫
（來源：中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)雙語新聞編輯部）
