Tingling in face due to stess?

[Anxiety?]

I've had tingling/crawling sensation in my face on and off for the last 6 months.  Sensation has been all over my face (forehead and both sides).  When I press on it, the sensations get worse.   It also gets worse when I'm in stressful situations, but I feel it at other times as well.  I've been to a nuerologist and had an MRI.  The doctor didn't think it was anything nuerlogical (like MS) and my MRI was clear.  I also have hypothyriodism and heard it could be attributed to that.

I found a person in this forum who had a similar experience.  The doctor's response was that it may indiciate a mental health problem.  Can you be more specific?  Why does this happen with stress?  Will it go away on its own?

[BD1742]

Hey everybody, I have the exact same symptom(s) as some of you have described, pressure/tightening of muscles above the right eye and occasional muscle contractions and tingling that moves around indescriminantly.  GP said it is most likely stress (at age 18 I guess there's not a lot else that is likely to cause any of this) and told me to take my mind off of it.  I find it gets worse when I'm doing something stressful or worrying about something in the future.  I just hope it'll stop soon, its been driving me nuts.
Word of the wise (though I'm sure most everybody posting here is guilty of this): Don't research everything on the internet, then you start thinking you have brain tumors and MS, even though you are probably more likely to find a $100 on the ground tomorrow than have any of the aforementioned conditions.
Anybody know of anything that can be done about this short of taking Xanax, Prozac or the like?

[BarelyThere]

I sure don't know of anything that can be done to stop it. I have tried everything. I would not recommend taking Prozac because there are many side effects that are not talked about that can be worse than the problem you're treating. Same with the other psychoactive drugs. Maybe a mild or lose dose antianxiety agent would help, but that's as far as I'd go.

I sometimes wear a hat when it gets really bad because the pressure on my forhead seems to help the sensation. However, it has now spread to other parts of my face so the hat isn't as great of a fix anymore.

On a side note... Has anyone here ever heard of something called a "sensory tic"? Any other ideas about atypical TN or other facial nerve disorders would be great. It's frustrating because it isn't pain I'm experiencing, so there's no explanation. I do occasionally get quick, sharp pains in my temple, but that's about it.

[BarelyThere]

***@****

Please email me with any ideas!

[Skyeyes27]

I was reading about the anxiety and tingleness and speasms people get.  I understand what people are going through.  I get these sensations as well in my forehead, temple area and face.  I especially had a horrible experience on decending on a plane.  I went to a neurologist last week and in the past two years have had 2 CT scans, 1 MRI, EKG, Chest X-ray, Neck X-ray, blood work done.  Everything has come back normal.
The neurologist suggested a certain kind of migraine, stress and an anxiety disorder.  It is amazing what nerves and stress can do!  I get the worst headaches ever, and also dizziness.  Dizziness is also a sign of anxiety.  Remember when you get to this state as well, your muscles tense up and your blood pressure will rise, which will make the symptoms you feel worse.  After all this time of being worried, crying, praying for help, I am just going to do my best to live with it and leave it in God's hands.

[nada76]

My neurologist told me this. He explained that stress and anxiety can cause the muscles in the upper back, neck and around the skull to contract and the muscle contractions around the skull can cause a tingling sensation.

For me it comes and goes. It used to bother me daily but now only occasionally. It tends to bother me when I have pent up anger, like when I have a dispute with someone at work and think about it a lot. It starts with the muscles in the upper back and neck getting stiff and then if I continue to be angry/stressed the muscles around my skull start to contract and tingle. Sometimes it's on my forehead and other times on the sides or the back. The exact sensation is hard to explain but it kind of feels like having cold shivers or an electrical current.

For me the best way to avoid it is to avoid disputes as best as I can and when something makes me angry I try to take a deep breath and think about something else. For you the root cause might be something else so I would recommend you look for an underlying factor like stress, anxiety, depression or anger and present this issue to a neurologist or psychiatrist.

When I do get tense I have found a massager like the Osim iPamper helps relax the muscles in the upper back and as a result also the muscles around the scull. Relaxation and breathing excercises help as well.

I also tend to have anxiety about perceived medical problems and learning that this sensation is a benign nuisance rather than a serious disease helped to reduce it a lot. I found that just by being focussed on this sensation and worrying about it made it a lot worse.

I hope this is helpful for you, good luck! :)

[BarelyThere]

Thanks for your post. Did your doctor tell you that was what was causing your sensations? How long did you have yours for and have they stopped yet? Did your type of sensations vary?

I have noticed that the sensations tend to get stronger when I am stressed or angry but that isn't the only time they are around. It is actually a constant thing, always there, it just varies in severity from hour to hour and day to day. It also tends to get worse in the late afternoon and evening hours.

I don't know what to do to relax the muscles, if that is what is causing this. I have been practicing progressive muscle relaxation for a couple of months now and it hasn't done anything to relieve it.

Again, thanks for your post. Any info you can share on what you've done to help yourself would be really appreciated. I am willing to try anything.