Hi all
For just over a week now, I've noticed that when I blink one of the tendons or muscles (one of those string-like things we have in our neck) seems to contract or twitch. It doesn't happen when I close my eyes, unless I squeeze them slightly as if I'm blinking with my eyes closed. I made the silly mistake of Googling it when inevitably came back "You have ALS" and I'm now a little freaked out.
Does anyone have any advice about this?
I'm a 28 year-old male, no family history of ALS, MS etc. Non-smoker (I tried one cigar once), drink alcohol but not excessively (3-4 drinks a week on average), no health conditions I know of besides being overweight. I have done strength pull test with hand dynamometer - approx. 85lbs grip strength which is a little weak for my age and gender but I never go to the gym or lift weights, and am sedentary (and recently had covid). I have a history of anxiety disorder for which I have recently begun psychotherapy, so I understand this is probably just my anxiety acting up since I do tend to fixate on illness and would describe myself as a moderate hypochondriac. I attended the emergency room around 6 weeks ago for a very-badly injured back and the attending doctor gave me a neurological exam of my lower limbs which were fine.
I haven't noticed any difficulty with daily tasks like doing shirt buttons, cooking or cutting up ingredients, or typing or driving. I have no speech or swallowing issues. So other than relatively low score on the dynamometer and the twitch, no noticeable issues. I have even done some tests on myself like pronator drift and nose-to-point touch tests and don't see any problems (no drift in my hands unless you count a few millimetres and no coordination problems).
Any advice about what this twitch could be/reassurance that I don't have ALS would be much appreciated.