Tics in children

Tics in children – Tics are nervous habits, such as eye-blinking, shoulder-shrugging, grimacing, neck-twisting, throat-clearing, sniffing, and dry coughing. Like compulsions, tics occur most commonly around the age of nine, but they can begin at any age after two. The motion is usually quick, regularly repeated, and always in the same form. Tics in children is more frequent when the child is under tension.

A tic may last on and off for a number of weeks or months then go away for good or be replaced by a new one. Blinking, sniffing, throat-clearing, and dry coughing often start with a cold but continue after the cold is gone. Shoulder-shrugging may begin when a child has a new loose-fitting garment that feels as if it were falling off. Children may copy a mannerism from another child with a tic, especially from a child they look up to, but these mannerisms don’t last long.

tics in children
tics in children

The main cause of tics in children seems to lie in the development of the brain. But psychology also plays a role. Tics are more common in tense children with fairly strict parents. There may be too much pressure at home. Sometimes the mother or father is going at the child too hard, directing him, correcting him whenever he is in sight.

Or the parents may be showing constant disapproval in a quieter way, setting standards that are too high, or providing too many activities, such as dancing, music, and athletic lessons. If the child were bold enough to fight back, he would probably be less tight inside. But being, in most cases, too well brought up for that, he bottles up his irritation, and it keeps backfiring in the form of a tic.

No child should be scolded or corrected on account of his tics. Tics in children are out of their control. The parent’s whole effort should go into making his home life relaxed and agreeable, with the least possible nagging, and making his school and social life satisfying.

About one child in ten has mild tics like this; they almost always go away with benign neglect. May be one in hundred children will continue to have multiple tics that persist for over a year. This one child may have Tourette’s Syndrome and should be checked by the doctor or nurse practitioner.

Tics in children isn’t something you need to bothered a lot with. They also do not need any medication or treatment. Many parents panic and end up asking for medications and these medications have their own side effects. So if your child shows the signs of getting tics, then try to resolve it without medications.

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