Twitching Eyelids: Causes, Don’t Worry, Be Happy
A twitching eyelid that just won’t stop can be anything from annoying to frightening.
If your eyelid has been twitching incessantly lately, you can probably chalk it up to strain of the ocular muscles and fatigue.
The eyelid is a muscle, and muscles often twitch for no apparent reason.
But the most common reasons for this phenomenon are fatigue, exercise and anxiety.
Benign fasciculation syndrome is the term often applied to someone who experiences a lot of twitching (fasciculations), especially if accompanied by cramps or fatigue.
And…it’s just that: benign.
Chances are exceedingly high that your twitching eyelid is absolutely nothing to worry about.
Stop worrying. Something that continuously happens throughout the day, that’s impossible to ignore, doesn’t mean it’s serious.
“Eyelid twitching [also called blepharospasm] is mostly caused by stress, fatigue and caffeine excess,” says Sashini Seeni, MD, a family medicine practitioner with DoctorOnCall, an online doctor and pharmacy.
Fasciculations are very common in the general population and can occur to any muscle in the body — any voluntary muscle, even the ones in your pinky toes or lips.
Though a twitching muscle can be a troubling, attention-robbing symptom, it’s usually no cause for alarm.
Of course, you’ll want to get this verified with your primary care physician or a neurologist to rule out a more serious cause.
“Other causes that may trigger eyelid twitching,” says Dr. Seeni, “are alcohol, bright light, irritation on the eye surface or inner eyelids, smoking, and wind or air pollution.”
Additional possible causes are corneal abrasion, dry eye and inflammation of the uvea (pigmented layer of the eye).
It’s recommended that you do not Google twitching eyelid.
You may stumble upon all sorts of scary content and/or, you’ll end up spotting titles of links that suggest a life threatening disease.
Can a serious, though not overtly life threatening, condition ever cause an eyelid to “twitch” or tremor?
Dr. Seeni points out the following possible, but much rarer, causes:
- Bell’s palsy
- Multiple sclerosis
- Cervical dystonia
- Tourette syndrome
- Parkinson’s disease
However, if you have any of these five conditions, you will very likely have other symptoms — that get your attention far more than does a twitching eyelid.
They include facial paralysis, tremoring hands, unsteady gait, neck pain, headaches and an uncontrollable jerking of the head.
Just about anyone can experience a fasciculating eyelid. One time, my sister commented out of the blue, “My eyelid’s been twitching all day and it’s driving me crazy!” That was over 20 years ago and she’s still alive and kicking.
“Sometimes, eyelid twitching can be the earliest sign of a chronic movement disorder, especially if other facial spasms develop too,” says Dr. Seeni.
These much rarer possible causes need to be mentioned, in all fairness.
But don’t let that throw off your perspective.
Twitching eyelids are a fact of human life, and, at least in isolation from other symptoms, is not indicative of a disease process.
So to summarize the VERY MOST LIKELY causes of a relentlessly twitching eyelid:
Anxiety and Stress
Freepik.com, creativeart.
Rubbing or Scratching the Eye
Shutterstock/fizkes
Contact Lenses
Strenuous Weightlifting
My eyelid once began twitching in response to a grueling set of heavy leg presses.
Shutterstock/Free around
A Deficiency In Magnesium/Calcium/Potassium
To subdue the fascics, make sure you’re well-hydrated and are not deficient in these three minerals.
If you must rub or scratch your eyelid, do so gently, and try to manage anxiety and stress, along with taking eye breaks from the computer or any reading.
DoctorOnCall is the largest digital healthcare platform for citizens of Malaysia, allowing patients to consult doctors for advice, book appointments and place orders with local pharmacies.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, health and personal security topics for many years, having written thousands of feature articles for a variety of print magazines and websites. She is also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
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Top image: Shutterstock/SpeedKingz
Sources:
mayoclinic.com/health/eye-twitching/MY00102
nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000756.htm
How Twitching Muscles Are Caused By Exercise
Everyone experiences twitching muscles.
Any voluntary muscle is capable of twitching.
This includes the eyelid, right above the lip, behind the ears, and of course, the larger muscles, including those located in the back, abdomen and limbs.
Fingers and toes may twitch from time to time as well. In fact, when digits twitch, it’s common to be able to actually see them in twitching motion.
Often, other muscles that twitch can also be seen twitching, including muscles on the top of the hand. In short, muscles, by nature, twitch.
For exercise enthusiasts, the most common sites of muscle twitching are the calves, arches of the feet, quads, hamstrings and glutes.
However, upper-body muscles also commonly twitch, such as biceps after performing pull-ups or grueling biceps curls; or chest muscles after bench pressing, pushups or some other rigorous chest routine.
Exercise is one of the most, if not the most, common causes of muscle twitching.
Shutterstock/bg_knight
However, the twitching normally does not occur during exercise. Sometimes, it occurs immediately following weight-bearing routines, such as pull-ups.
On the other hand, twitching may not start until the person finally comes to a complete rest at home. Cardio exercise can also induce twitching.
The medical term for muscle twitching is fasciculations, or fascics for short.
Ranking at perhaps No. 2 on the list of causes for fasciculations is anxiety.
Yes, muscles will often jump around a bit when you’re flanked with stress and anxiety.
Freepik.com, creativeart
Another cause is dehydration, though you may not be particularly thirsty.
Lastly, inadequate intake of calcium and magnesium is a classic cause of fasciculations.
Muscle twitching, to some people, feels good, kind of like internal massaging.
But to other individuals, fasciculations can be annoying, especially if the twitching rate is coming in at about one fasciculation per minute.
Some people experience several fasciculations per minute, for hours on end, even all day long.
Individuals have described the sensation as “worms crawling under the skin,” or “thumping.”
One particular area of the body may twitch a lot: a “hot spot” for fasciculations.
Common hot spots are calves and arches, because calves really do quite a bit of work from day to day, and our feet take a good beating on a regular basis.
Sometimes, twitches are body-wide. Interestingly, if a person starts worrying about the twitching, he or she will start twitching more.
In fact, many people who first start experiencing fasciculations in one body part, such as the feet, will then report that the twitching “quickly spread” throughout their entire body — only after they began worrying about it or focusing on it with too much wonder.
But are fasciculations something to worry about in the first place?
If fasciculations become annoying, you may become concerned that the twitching signals some kind of medical ailment.
This is akin to automatically concluding that an upset stomach means colon cancer.
However, in the case of a medical condition, the twitching is always accompanied by other symptoms of that condition. In other words, there is no illness that is characterized by just twitching.
When anxiety about fasciculations accompanies the twitching, other symptoms often appear: muscle cramping, some tingling, and what seems to be weakness. All three of these symptoms are caused by the anxiety.
Yes, muscle weakness in this case is imagined.
This is called “perceived weakness.” But if anxiety is severe enough, muscles really can lose their efficacy.
A classic example is when a person is under extreme duress, and can barely walk due to “buckling” legs.
Once the person begins lifting, running or hiking (and we all know how effective vigorous exercise is at eradicating anxiety), the perceived weakness typically disappears into thin air.
Notable muscle twitching is referred to as benign fasciculation syndrome, or BFS.
BFS is a fancy way of saying that someone has twitching muscles, usually accompanied by cramping or tingling.
The cramping often comes from tension in the muscles, sometimes from fasciculations; and tension from stress.
Muscle twitching in and of itself does not cause tingling. But worrying about the twitching can, since stress causes constriction of blood vessels in extremities, thereby reducing blood flow there!
Certainly, all athletes will get fasciculations sooner or later. After a rigorous hike or trail run, for example, a person will eventually settle down and relax, legs immobile.
Soon after, his or her legs begin twitching like mad. Movement ceases the twitching. But once inertia resumes, fasciculations resume.
Just what causes the twitching in the first place?
Shutterstock/Designua
“Above all, fatigue is the reason for the muscle twitching,” explains Kevin Plancher, MD, a leading sports orthopaedist and sports medicine expert in the New York metropolitan area.
“The muscles are most likely overworked at this point. The nerves that send impulses to the muscles become fatigued as well, which can cause erratic firing of the muscles.”
Long exercise sessions cause lactic acid to build up, resulting in a lack of oxygen.
Dr. Plancher says, “This alters the way the muscles contract as well, possibly causing twitching.”
As mentioned earlier, cramping can be brought on by stress. But it can also be caused by an electrolyte imbalance in the athlete.
“In order for a muscle to contract, electrolytes play a key role,” says Dr. Plancher.
Cramping and twitching can result from increased amounts of sweating that follow exercise, he says.
Also, cramping — or what the athlete describes as such — can simply be caused by an over-worked or over-stretched muscle.
Fasciculations shouldn’t be a nuisance, once you realize that they are a normal part of muscle physiology.
But there are ways to manage fasciculations, for those who don’t like the sensation.
Dr. Plancher says, “Movement is a very good way to minimize the twitching. It helps the body move the excess lactic acid out of the muscles.
“Secondly, it allows the electrolyte levels in the muscles to normalize if they are unbalanced due to fatigue of the nervous system.
“Stretching the involved muscles will help as well. This relaxes the muscles.
Freepik.com/Racool_studio
“Increasing fluid intake can be key to minimizing these episodes, especially if electrolyte imbalances are the culprit.”
Try a banana or an all-natural electrolyte beverage.
Dr. Plancher also suggests gradually working into an exercise session, rather than jumping in with too much, too soon.
“Do not overload in the beginning. You will see less adverse reactions with a progressive program.”
Finally, work on ways to reduce the anxiety in your life.
Dr. Plancher explains that the muscles of an anxious person are often tight — as in too much tension.
“The muscles would be in a constant state of contraction that would overwork the muscle and cause fatigue just like in exercising muscles.”
If you’re having a hard time settling down, consider doing muscle-relaxing activities such as yoga and swimming.
Lastly, spend some time in a sauna for its detoxifying and calming effects.
Dr. Plancher is founder of Plancher Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine, and lectures globally on issues related to orthopedic procedures and sports injury management.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, health and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of feature articles for a variety of print magazines and websites. She is also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
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Top image: Freepik.com
Living with Benign Fasciculation Syndrome: Causes, Treatments
Benign fasciculation syndrome is a fancy name that simply means harmless muscle twitching that’s accompanied by cramping and maybe exercise intolerance.
Technically, everybody experiences benign fasciculation syndrome sooner or later.
The variables are duration and magnitude, not to mention the ALS scare that benign fasciculation syndrome often induces.
In fact, a fear of ALS has been known to cause full-blown benign fasciculation syndrome.
How It All Begins for Many
1) A twitching muscle becomes annoying. It may be very local or all over the legs—anywhere, actually.
2) You do an Internet search on “cause of muscle twitching” or similar.
3) ALS sites pop up in the first page of results.
Shutterstock/Aaron Amat
4) You start thinking you have ALS because one possible ALS symptom is muscle twitching.
5) Terror sweeps over you and your muscle twitching spreads throughout your body.
6) You begin perceiving weakness and even some cramping.
7) Nearly every waking moment is spent worrying about ALS (or multiple sclerosis).
What’s really happening is that the mind is playing tricks on you.
Another factor (which I’ll detail in a moment) is your lack of understanding of how Internet search engines work.
A person may no longer have an ALS fear yet still be taunted by benign fasciculation syndrome, in that twitching muscles can be nearly nonstop and really annoying.
Shutterstock/Shaynepplstockphoto
How is benign fasciculation syndrome treated, managed or cured?
Managing anxiety is a major way to suppress benign fasciculation syndrome, since anxiety is a major cause of twitching muscles.
Recognizing triggers of muscle twitching will go a long way. In my case, common triggers are trail running, hill dashing and power hiking.
Waiting out the storm. The more time under your belt from the institution of muscle twitching, the more reassurance you’ll have that this is not ALS, as ALS is progressive.
Buy a calendar and every day place a shiny red star on it to track time under your belt.
Before you know it you’ll have a cluster of stars equating to lengthy time passage—without any neurological regress if all you have is benign fasciculation syndrome.
Other causes of benign fasciculation syndrome or just plain muscle twitching:
1) Calcium, magnesium or potassium deficiency
2) Fatigue, eye strain
3) Medications and medication cessation
4) Viral infections
5) Lyme disease
6) Strenuous exercise
7) No known cause
When searching for a cause of muscle twitching, why do ALS sites or queries show up?
Back to my comment about Internet search engines. There is NO correlation between search engine results and the most likely cause of a symptom!
I specialize in search engine optimization writing, and believe me, if I write enough articles claiming that muscle twitching is caused by eating white bread, the first page of search results will show my articles!
MMMM, fresh baked bread! Shutterstock/monticello
Someone searching for causes of muscle twitching will then see all my page links and conclude, “Gee, I better stop eating white bread!”
Benign fasciculation syndrome isn’t a pathological process or disease in the true sense. It’s just a fancy name.
Muscles were meant to twitch while we’re under stress.
The theory is that they are on standby for a flight or fight response.
What does a neurologist have to say about muscle twitching?
“The key point with benign fasciculations is that, for whatever reason, they occur but they do not represent an ominous underlying condition,” says Kristina Lafaye, MD, a board certified neurologist specializing in clinical neurophysiology and neuromuscular medicine with Tulane Doctors Neurosciences.
“Yes, some people with benign fasciculations could experience them 24/7 (or so they say), but if nothing else is wrong, then I wouldn’t probe further.
“I don’t do any kind of a frequency count, because if a person doesn’t have evidence of denervation which, if present, would indicate a MND, myelopathy, or some other condition, then it doesn’t warrant any further neurologic evaluation.”
Dr. Lafaye is triple board certified: neurology, clinical neurophysiology and neuromuscular medicine from the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. Her expertise and leadership continue to make a significant impact on patient outcomes.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
Top image: Shutterstock/Miss Ty
Why Does My Urine Stink, Especially in the Morning?
Stinky smelly urine in the morning?
Or does your urine smell bad or like burning rubber at other times of the day?
Can anything be done about this bad smell in the morning or whenever it happens?
I myself don’t have bad smelling urine, but I wanted to get to the bottom of this common problem.
Many people are perplexed over this issue; sometimes the smell is a strong urine smell, and sometimes it’s that of burning rubber.
And, sometimes the bad smell or “strong” odor occurs only in the morning.
“Urine will often have a strong odor in the morning because it is very concentrated,” says David H.C. King, MD, Medical Director, Urology Services, El Camino Hospital Los Gatos.
But what about at other times of the day other than morning?
Dr. King says, “Certain foods and vitamins such as asparagus and vitamin B can also cause urine to have a strong aroma.”
The B vitamins in this case would be vitamin B complex and B-12 (found in animal-derived foods). Even a multivitamin can cause a strong odor.
Asparagus contains a compound that when broken down after the vegetable is eaten, releases an unpleasant odor.
Asparagus can also give your excrement a greenish tinge; don’t be alarmed; this is harmless.
Other Causes of Smelly Urine
Dr. King says, “Bladder or even kidney infections will also cause malodorous urine. It is important to have a urinalysis done to check for infections if you have a bad smell to the urine.”
Shutterstock/Tati9
Bladder infections are also known as urinary tract infections. Other symptoms of a UTI are burning, urge to urinate but nothing comes out, and urinary frequency.
Kidney infections are actually a type of UTI.
They can start in the bladder and make their way to the kidney and become life-threatening.
If your urine smells bad due to a kidney infection, you’ll have other notable symptoms of the infection including fever, abdominal pain, groin pain, and pain or burning when relieving yourself.
If you suspect a kidney infection, seek medical attention as soon as possible.
Dr. King says, “If there is no infection, then diluting the urine by drinking at least two to three liters of water a day and eating a bland diet should be able to help decrease the bad smell to the urine.
“Much more rare cause of malodorous urine can be related to metabolic disorders such as phenylketonuria or liver failure.”
With 20+ years in general urology, Dr. King specializes in prostate disorders, kidney stones and urinary problems in men and women.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, health and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of feature articles for a variety of print magazines and websites. She is also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
Top image: Shutterstock/pathdoc
Fishy Smell Around Penis: Causes and Solutions
A urologist explains the causes of a fish-like smell around the penis.
That fishy smell from your penis is caused by certain problems that you can remedy.
A fishy smell around your penis is not normal. A fishy stink on or around the penile region has specific causes.
David H.C. King, MD, Medical Director, Urology Services, El Camino Hospital Los Gatos, speaks about the causes and solutions to a fishy smell coming from the penis.
Dr. King explains, “The most common causes of bad smell around the penis would be related to poor hygiene and skin infections.
“Uncircumcised men need to pull their foreskin all the way back to wash the head of their penis once or twice a day with soapy water.
“If that is not done, then secretions and a substance called smegma can accumulate and cause a bad smell.”
What exactly is smegma?
The top layer of the skin is called the epidermis.
When the epidermal cells flake off and get mixed with an oily subtance called sebum, a pasty substance with a foul-smell results: smegma.
This accumulation collects in the moist areas of the genitals, particularly in men who have not been circumcised.
Dr. King continues: “The foreskin always needs to be put back covering the head of the penis or else a painful condition called paraphimosis can occur, which traps the foreskin above the head of the penis.”
In paraphimosis, the foreskin cannot be pulled back down into its normal position.
The foreskin can get trapped behind the penis if left retracted for too long, because this then causes the male organ to swell.
“Both uncirumcised and circumcised men can have bad smell around their penis if they get an infection from their sexual partners called bacterial vaginosis, gardnerella, or trichomonas,” says Dr. King.
Some men, who have a fishy smell about their genitalia, report that the odor is very similar or just like the odor from a woman’s vagina —
— a fishy odor caused by bacterial vaginosis, which is when the normal balance of vaginal bacteria becomes upset.
Other Causes of a Fishy Odor About the Penis
Urinary tract infection — this causes foul-smelling urine, and since urine exits the penis, then this foul smell can make its way onto the male organ.
Ketonuria (in diabetics) — the urine contains ketone bodies (byproducts of fatty acid breakdown)
Some men report that the bad or fishy smell about their penis is still there despite daily cleaning with soap and water, and even retracting the foreskin.
The reasons for this, explains Dr. King, are:
“In that case it could be either the man’s own body odor causing a smell or a persistent bacterial or yeast infection.
“A skin swab culture should be taken to diagnose an infection and be treated appropriately.
“If the culture is negative, then personal pleasant smelling lotions or deodorant can be used.”
With 20+ years in general urology, Dr. King specializes in prostate disorders, kidney stones and urinary problems in men and women.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
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Top image: Shutterstock/Andrey_Popov
Frequent Urge to Urinate: Bladder Cancer Possible
A urologist explains frequent urination and bladder cancer.
Feeling of having to urinate, but nothing comes out, can be sign of bladder cancer, though urinary urgency as a symptom of this disease is relatively rare.
A frequent feeling of having to urinate can have other causes. When you actually urinate a lot, this isn’t the same as merely feeling the urge, that unpleasant, annoying pressure.
And despite attempting to void, there is no urine output, and the feeling of urgency persists.
“There are a myriad of causes for constant urinary urgency,” says David H.C. King, MD, Medical Director, Urology Services, El Camino Hospital Los Gatos. These include a urinary tract infection (UTI).
Women and the Urge to Urinate
“In women, the most common causes are having a UTI or a condition called overactive bladder (OAB),” says Dr. King.
“Interstitial cystitis (IC), which can be associated with bladder pain, can also cause urinary urgency.”
Men and the Urge to Urinate
“In men, the most common causes relate to consequences of having benign prostate hypertrophy (BPH).
“In both men and women, very acute onset of urinary urgency can be associated with bladder cancer.”
Bladder Cancer Facts
- In 2009 there were nearly 71,000 diagnosed cases of bladder cancer in America
- Over 14,000 deaths (not from those 71,000 cases, but that statistic includes people diagnosed in previous years).
seer.cancer.gov
Symptoms: The hallmark symptom is blood in the urine. However, if you notice that it’s reddish, don’t panic too soon, because the red color can have other causes, including consumption of beets and red licorice.
The next symptom is frequent urge to urinate, which as mentioned at the beginning of this article, can be described as simply feeling that urge, but no urine comes out.
However, another symptom is actually producing a lot of urine throughout the day (this can also be a sign of diabetes or drinking a lot of fluids, as well as a side effect from some medications).
Risk factors: Over 50 percent of cases are linked to cigarette smoking.
Plus, recurring UTIs, high saturated fat diet; being male; family history; secondhand smoke; age; Caucasian race; and external beam radiation.
Workplace exposure to toxins are also a risk factor, and the following occupations have such exposure: hairdressers, machinists, printers, truck drivers, painters, and rubber/chemical/textile/leather/metal workers.
Does wheelchair confinement increase the risk of bladder cancer?
“Wheelchair confinement itself does not increase the risk of bladder cancer,” says Dr. King.
“However, some consequences of wheelchair confinement such as requiring a chronic catheter for bladder drainage or recurrent UTIs can cause a rare type of bladder cancer called squamous cell carcinoma of the bladder.
“The more common symptom of bladder cancer is blood in urine rather than pain.”
With 20+ years in general urology, Dr. King specializes in prostate disorders, kidney stones and urinary problems in men and women.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, health and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of feature articles for a variety of print magazines and websites. She is also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
Top image: Shutterstock/cliplab
Sources: Cancer.gov Urologychannel.com
Causes of Cloudy Urine, How to Examine, Cancer
It’s scary to see cloudy urine coming out of you.
If you’ve been noticing that your urine is cloudy, this is not something you should shrug off.
But medicine.net and mayoclinic.com do not list cancer as a possible cause. But keep reading…
Cloudy urine can be a sign of urinary tract infection. If your excrement smells really bad, and especially if you have fever and chills, there’s a good chance it’s a UTI.
If the only symptom is the murky excrement, you should still see a doctor.
This is because it can mean kidney stones or infection, gonorrhea or a yeast infection in the vagina.
Another cause of cloudy urine is a buildup of red or white blood cells, phosphates or fat.
A common cause of cloudy urine is a buildup of sediment in the fluid—sediment in the form of tiny crystals.
This situation is harmless. And guess what: cervical fluid can mix with your excrement and make it cloudy.
Additional causes of cloudy urine
(no particular order)
Diabetes
Enterovesicular Fistula
Schistosomiasis
Enlarged Prostate
Certain Prostate Problem Treatments
And according to the Mt. Sinai Medical Center site for urology, another cause is prostate cancer. But this is not a direct cause. Nor is it a common cause.
“Prostate cancer doesn’t typically cause cloudy or murky urine,” says Mark Levandovsky, MD, Founder and Medical Director of Preventive Medicine and Cancer Care. Dr. Levandovsky is a board certified internist and oncologist/hematologist in practice for 20 years.
Dr. Levandovsky explains, “The most common cause of such a urine would be obstruction (from prostate enlargement due to prostate cancer), which in turn can cause bleeding and/or urinary tract infection, causing a change in urine quality.”
What You See
One thing you should be very aware of is that poor or dim lighting in a bathroom could taint your view of your urine and even how it appears in the toilet water.
Even if the lighting is good, your positioning on the toilet could hamper your view by creating a shadow. It’s just an awkward way to view things.
To be extra sure about what you think you may be observing, relieve yourself in a clear plastic cup, then examine its contents.
Slowly poor the contents into a clean sink of clean water.
Examine the fluid as it pours and as it enters the water.
When in doubt, always consult with a physician — and this should be a urologist rather than a primary care doctor.
Dr. Levandovsky provides personalized care to health conscious individuals as well as cancer patients and survivors, focusing on an integration of genetic/molecular risk assessments, prevention, education, nutrition and psycho-oncology.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
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Sources:
nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003139.htm;
netdoctor.co.uk/ate/liverandkidney/202365.html;
medicinenet.com/cloudy_urine/symptoms.htm;
healthgrades.com/symptoms/cloudy-urine; miami-urology.com/robotic-surgery/cloudy-urine
Top image credit: Federico Candoni
Causes of Dark or Brown Urine: Over a Dozen
The causes of dark or brown urine are many, ranging from benign to possibly fatal.
Benign Causes of Dark or Brown Urine
Have you eaten recently any of the following? Fava beans, rhubarb pie, black licorice, blackberries or dyed foods?
These foods can darken urine. The darkness in your urine, if caused by these foods, will take a few days to return to normal once you cease eating these items.
“Depending on the circumstances, dark urine is most commonly due to dehydration,” says Carolyn Dean, MD, ND – Medical Advisory Board Member, Nutritional Magnesium Association at nutritionalmagnesium.org.
“But it may also indicate that an excess of potentially dangerous waste products are circulating in the body.
“For example, dark brown urine may indicate liver disease due to the presence of bile in the urine.”
If you continue to have dark or brown urine, check to see if you’re on any of the following medications:
Methocarbamol
Primaquine
Nitrofurantoin
Metronidazole
Chloroquine
Laxatives that contain cascara or senna
The following medical conditions can cause brown, dark or tea colored urine:
-Bleeding in the kidney, ureter or bladder
-Melanoma (urine color can be dark brown or even blackish)
-Acute glomerulonephritis, a kidney ailment that impedes a kidney’s ability to remove excess waste and fluids
-Liver disease, particularly cirrhosis and hepatitis
-Hemolytic anemia (abnormal breakdown of red blood cells)
-Tyrosinemia, a rare genetic disorder: elevated blood levels of tyrosine, which is an amino acid
-Rhabdomyolysis, a side effect from statin medications that causes muscle pain. Urine may be reddish brown or golden brown, a hallmark sign of “rhabdo.”
-Porphyria, a usually inherited disorder that affects the nervous system.
“Intense or excessive exercise can also create dark urine,” says Dr. Dean.
“Intense exercise can cause muscle injury that causes your body to release waste products in excess.”
-Copper poisoning
Dr. Dean says the following also can lead to brownish urine: “Biliary obstruction, gallstones, bladder stones, bladder cancer, jaundice, kidney cancer, pancreatic cancer, malaria or even the side effect of blood-thinning medications.”
When blood gets old, it turns brown, which is why the urine becomes this color when there’s old blood in it.
Another cause of darkened urine is urologic surgery or a urinary tract infection.
Self-Inspections of Urine
Make sure that you have adequate light when inspecting your urine.
Watch it as you void, and view the color in the toilet water.
The toilet bowl should be clean, and the water clear; not dyed from cleansers.
If anything appears concerning, then you should void into a clear plastic cup the next several times for a better inspection.
However, enough dehydration (even if you’re not thirsty) can make urine a dark yellow or even a light orange.
If you can’t connect your dark or brown urine to any of the above items that are not illnesses, then seek a consultation with a urologist.
Dr. Dean, in practice for 35+ years and author of “The Magnesium Miracle,” is also a naturopath, nutritionist, herbalist, acupuncturist, lecturer and consultant.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
Source: merck.com
Top image credit: James Heilman, MD
Dang Itching in Neck after Exercise: Causes, Solutions
A leading dermatologist explains why the neck sometimes itches during or after exercise.
Itchy neck, especially the back, during exercise driving you nuts?
Or maybe the back of your neck, or front, doesn’t start itching like mad till after you’re done exercising.
Either way, the cause of all that itching about your neck is the same, be it during, or after, your exercise session.
Have you noticed that the itching of your neck happens only during certain kinds of exercise?
Perhaps it happens most prevalently during workouts in which you sweat like crazy, such as a fierce workout on the revolving staircase, or a lot of hard incline running on the treadmill.
“When we exercise, our muscles use energy to perform the muscular contractions that move our body parts,” says Neal Schultz, MD, a dermatologist with a private practice in the NYC area, and founder of dermTV.com.
“In the course of muscle contractions, energy is used somewhat inefficiently, which causes the creation of heat first in the contracting muscles, and then around the muscles, which starts to raise our body temperature.”
For this to occur, you need not be exercising to the point of exhaustion, nor do you need to be doing cardio necessarily.
Dr. Schultz continues, “But the body is very smart, and in its eternal effort to maintain homeostasis and a constant (98.6F) temperature inside our body, the body brings blood from the inside of our body which is rising above 99 degrees, to the skin which is normally 80-90 degrees, in an effort to try to remove the heat that is building up from muscle action and metabolism.”
So as your exercise intensity on the revolving staircase, or in that group fitness class, starts escalating, this homeostatic process starts kicking up more and more.
Shutterstock/El Nariz
“By sending more blood to the relatively cooler skin, the heat is more easily dissipated to the environment to help maintain normal internal body temperature and prevent it from rising,” continues Dr. Schultz.
“But when we bring that heat to our skin, that heat causes a small amount of inflammation in the skin, which causes special cells in the skin which contain a lot of histamine (called mast cells) to release their histamine as part of the body’s way to fight and correct this ‘unnatural’ temperature increase in the skin.
“It is the release of this histamine in the skin that causes the itching.”
So hence, your neck starts itching at some point into the exercise.
Other parts of your body may also be itching, but what can make the neck, especially the back, itch the most, or be the only part that’s itching, is that for some people, a lot of heat and sweat get built up in this region of the body.
Plus, if you have a ponytail or a clump of hair smothering your neck, this adds to the heat, and compounds the itching problem because now, you have moist, matted hair adding to the picture.
Start scratching, and you further increase the production of the histamines: more itchiness.
Solution for an itchy neck from exercise?
See what you can do with your hair as far as keeping it off your neck.
Have a towel with you to periodically pat your neck dry. Don’t scratch your neck.
You can also take an over-the-counter antihistamine 30 to 60 minutes prior to exercising, though a side effect may be drowsiness, in which case, a physician can prescribe an antihistamine without this side effect.
Topical lotions can be applied after exercise to calm the itching of your neck, if patting it dry and avoiding scratching don’t help.
Dr. Schultz has been treating his patients’ dermatologic conditions for 30+ years, with particular emphasis in skin cancer prevention and treatment, acne treatment and laser surgery.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
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Top image: Freepik/Racool_studio
Itchy Ankles Causes and Solutions
Are itchy ankles driving you batty?
There are several possible causes of itchy ankles.
I will highlight more obvious causes of itchy ankles (even though what seems obvious to one person may not be to the next person), and then some causes of ankle itching that most individuals would never consider.
Wool socks are a culprit, says Neal Schultz, MD, a dermatologist with a private practice in the NYC area, and founder of dermTV.com.
Do your ankles always or frequently itch during or after hiking, when you wear the wool socks?
Wool socks that are tight against your skin can cause ankles to itch.
Even non-wool socks that are tightly around the skin can cause this problem. Wool socks can cause contact dermatitis, which will make the ankles itch.
Next up are mosquito bites, says Dr. Schultz.
You may not be aware you were bitten, and then find that suddenly, your ankle is itching.
If you absolutely must wear wool socks for keeping warm during cold-weather outings, then see if you can loop the socks over the top of your outdoor boots or hiking footwear.
Another option is to wear cotton socks against your skin, then wool over the cotton.
To avoid mosquito bites, make a point of applying repellant to your feet and ankles.
Other Causes of Itchy Ankles
Poor circulation can be one of them, continues Dr. Schultz, and this can cause swelling also.
He continues, “Over-drying of the skin of the ankles, which causes a condition called asteatotic eczema.
“Because there are so few oil glands near your ankles to make lubricating oils, over-use of harsh soaps will strip the skin of the lubricating oils, which causes the skin to become over-dried by loss of natural moisture, and that causes itching.”
Neurodermatitis is another culprit, “which happens as a result of a simple local itching of the ankle (or any other place on the body), to which people logically and rationally respond by scratching, except that the scratching causes inflammation in the skin and a release of histamine, which causes more itching.
“So there’s more scratching, and you’re then in an itch-scratch cycle where the itching begets more scratching and the scratching begets more itching,” explains Dr. Schultz. “It’s like a positive feedback loop.”
If your ankle itches and you’ve ruled out the above causes, or most of them, anyways, ask yourself if you had a Band-Aid or some kind of taping on the ankle very recently.
An allergic reaction to the chemical in the adhesive will cause itching, and scratching it will aggravate the problem.
Calamine lotion, and not scratching, will clear up the irritation.
