The first symptom is usually an intermittent twitching of the eyelid muscle that can lead to forced closure of the eye.
The spasm may then gradually spread to involve
the muscles
of the lower face, which may cause
the mouth to be pulled to one side. Eventually the spasms involve all of the muscles on one side of the face almost continuously. The condition may be caused by a facial nerve injury, or a tumor, or it may have no apparent cause.