Back in May our son started doing this twisting thing with his back. I asked him why and he couldn't tell me. Then that stopped and he started doing this strange thing with his neck and now the tic has changed again. Now its his mouth and neck kind of jerking to the right. It isn't constant but several times a minute. I don't get it. Yesterday he said that a boy in his class made fun of him all day at school. :( I am going to call the pediatrician but was wondering if anyone has had experience with this.
I did some research and found that many kids develop tics and some grow out of it. That gives me hope.
Thanks!
Thanks everyone! I feel better after ready your posts. I am hoping this is just something that will pass but feel the need to talk to his pediatrician. We are going tomorrow. Have a nice, long weekend!
Edited: We went to the Dr. He said that it is common esp among boys around his age and he would most likely grow out of it. He said he could refer me to a pediatric neurologist but I think we will just give it more time and hope it stops soon.
Kids absolutely develope these things and then grow out of them. Around a year old, my daughter developed a neck tic and grew out of it fairly quickly and has not had any more since. Her doctor said its totally normal. I would still consult the doctor. If you can, catch the tic on video so you can show the doctor. Good luck.
I bet your right, its probably just a phase that he will grow out of. I know sometimes I might get weird tics like pushing my eyebrows up (embarassing) and then I cant stop! Eventually I stop and then I might do something else LOL. I bet he is just fine!
Our son has ADHD, so he's highly at risk for tics and sure enough, developed them right on time at 7 years old. If they get so severe as to affect quality of life, there are mild medications out there that can control them -- Tenex and Clonidine are probably the ones your pediatrician will mention.
Our son's get worse on certain ADHD medications, so we've managed to keep his to a not too horrible level by making adjustments there. He did take Tenex for a while when things were at their worst (at one point, he twitched his head to the side, blinked funny, jumped up every minute and could barely talk), but we were able to taper off that after a while and the tics were manageable again without medication.
Tics do change over time, so that sounds typical to me. Hopefully the pediatrician can give you some more information and reassurances about it all.
And no worries about Tourette's (I know that came to mind to me at the beginning). Unless your son also has a vocal tic, you're just dealing with regular tics.
I agree that this is probably something he'll grow out of, and you're doing the right thing by getting him in to see the pediatrician :)
Me personally, I get this facial tic whenever I'm crazy stressed out and overwhelmed (and it's usually the onset of an anxiety attack for me)... The right side of my upper lip jerks... it looks so funny!! It lasts quite a while too (the kids think it's hilarious, but they're usually the culprits!)... If I go lay down in the dark and close my eyes and have no distractions and just BREATHE, I can usually will myself to stop ;)
My son has had tics off and on since he was about 3yrs old (He's now almost 8yrs). He doesn't have them all the time. He'll develop one which will last for a few months, then it will go away. Then a couple of months later, another one will show up and last another few months until it goes away and the whole process starts over. His tics have included neck rolling, knuckle cracking, sniffing, blinking, clearing his throat, shoulder rolling, nose scratching, etc. His current one is the neck cracking. He's constantly rolling his head and cracking his neck. He did have this tic about a year ago and it went away, then it came back, then went away, then it came back about a month and a half ago. He's slowing down on it (FINALLY) but, it's not completely gone yet.
The doctor said it is completely normal for kids this age to have tics. He said not to get upset w/him about it and that he'll grow out of it. He said the more I discourage him from it, the worse it will get and the longer it will last. He also said do what I could to keep him busy so it will distract him from the tic. For Ex: during his knuckle-cracking tic, I would have him do an art project or practice his spelling words. That way, he could do something OTHER than suffer f/the tic. Also, his tics would get worse when watching television. Especially the sniffing, throat clearing, and blinking. If you are really concerned I would suggest you visit with his doctor about it, but, just know there are a ton of kids out there going through the same thing.
Sometimes it is from stress and doesn't go away but is more or less noticeable at certain times. I think the less you say about it the better as that causes more stress. You can look at these links if this is what your son has but you should have a doctor tell you for sure.
http://www.turretssyndrome.org/
http://www.ehow.com/how_###-###-####_diagnose-tourettes-s...
http://www.webmd.com/search/search_results/default.aspx?q...
If it isn't diagnosed as this then you won't need to worry about these links.
Call his doctor for a physical. When I was 9 I developed a facial tic, and strangely enough it was related to undiagnosed bladder reflux and a narrowing urethra. The doctor told my mom the tic would disappear after my surgery -and it did! Funny, I clearly remember the compulsion to "do" the tic, but I don't remember it going away. It just did when the medical problem was solved. There are numerous physical issues that cpuld be the underlying cause.
my friends son has had a tic off and on for years. Mostly gone away but comes back when he is stressed.
