俗話說，左眼跳財右眼跳災。眼皮跳真的和禍福相關嗎？醫生表示，事實上，眼皮跳不能預示吉兇，但卻和你的身體健康息息相關。
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?
有時候，當你專注于做事的時候，你的眼皮開始不受控制地跳動。這是一種令人很煩躁的感覺，有時會持續幾個小時。怎么會這樣？
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.
對此特立尼達人有許多迷信的解釋。比如，如果是右眼皮跳，那么你將會聽到好消息；而如果是左眼皮跳，那么你會聽到不好的消息。拋開迷信解釋不談，對于眼皮跳原因的簡短解釋是，沒啥大礙。雖然，在個別情況下它可能是某種神經疾病的起因。
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).
眼皮跳動是一種自發的肌肉收縮，不伴有肌肉萎縮或肌肉無力。你可能經歷過膝蓋或者肘部的肌肉無意識抽搐。同樣的情況也會發生在眼輪匝肌（眼瞼附近的肌肉）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.
眼皮抽搐通常出現在某一邊的下眼瞼上。有時候可能會涉及兩邊的眼瞼，不過兩邊眼瞼的肌肉收縮彼此獨立。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心的。它們通常是一種自我限制的良性問題，沒必要去醫院檢查。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.
眼科醫師表示，壓力是引起眼皮跳的最主要因素。當我們感受到很大壓力時，身體會釋放壓力荷爾蒙，引發“戰或逃”反應。該反應最直接的結果是肌肉被喚醒，從而可能影響眼瞼肌肉。對于你而言，這是一個探望朋友、放松或者冥想以減輕壓力的好時機。
ophthalmologists n. 眼科醫師
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使你的眼睛“抱怨”。科學家們并不確定其中的原因為何，但他們發現多休息能減輕癥狀。
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，需要長時間坐著并盯著電腦屏幕。這種生活方式會導致干眼癥，也叫作干燥性角膜結膜炎。干眼癥由眼睛表面長期缺乏潤滑和滋潤導致。當我們的眼睛太干燥時，它們也許會通過自發的眼皮跳動來保持濕潤。眼睛不停眨會影響大腦，讓一只或者兩只眼睛的眼皮跳動更頻繁。為了避免干眼癥，如果你每天用電腦的時間超過七小時，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；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，而它們在飲用過量的時候都會導致眼皮亂跳。這時你需要補水并避免食用天然糖或者人造糖。
缺乏礦物質 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致。如果眼皮一直亂跳，那么你可以通過簡單的血液測試來檢查體內的鎂含量。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.
眼瞼有細菌感染時，就會患上瞼緣炎，它會導致眼睛發炎和紅腫。這會導致眼睛周圍的肌肉顫動。其他癥狀還包括眼睛灼痛、劇痛，眼睛底部出現皮屑和異物感。這時你應該去看眼科醫生，了解眼瞼腫痛發癢的病因。保持眼瞼衛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，一天重復幾次。
dandruff n. 皮屑
grittiness n. 有砂礫
（來源：中國日報雙語新聞編輯部）
