Read about my son’s experience with tics and how we managed to help him without using doctors and specialists. You can learn here what we did, so he is now happy and relaxed and has no more tics. This is my story about things I did to help my child with tics.
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Our Story
First signs
A few years ago, I noticed my son started blinking frequently.
It was happening all the time throughout the day for several days. His eyes were fine, but I took him to the opticians to have them checked.
They haven’t found anything wrong.
Then he started to repeatedly tilt his head to the side and grimaced his face.
After that, clearing his throat was new behaviour.
We started to realise he might have tics.
It was all happening along with some tough times he experienced at school (bullying problems).
The school arranged a meeting and told us they noticed the tics too.
What happened next?
Our journey then started, and we have been trying to help our son, but, long story short, the school and the doctors were not proving helpful.
The school wanted to push for a diagnosis of possibly some neurodevelopmental disorder that would secure their extra funding.
Sadly, over the years, I have realised that money was the only thing that was important for them.
The paediatrician said not to worry and that it wouldn’t make sense to refer our son to the specialist.
By the time we have got an appointment (2-year waiting time), the tics would be gone.
But we WERE worried. It was heartbreaking to see him jerking, blinking, making sudden movements when he clearly didn’t want to.
The more he tried to control it, the more stressed he became, and the tics were still there, changing their presentation every few weeks.
We went through the whole array of them.
It started affecting his mental health. He was stressed, anxious and embarrassed by them and began becoming more isolated from his peers.
I started researching, let down by the doctors and unable to get help.
I was reading anything I could, including research papers and medical journals.
I started trying different things one after another, always ensuring that whatever I did would be safe for my child and won’t have side effects.
What I did to help my child with tics
Below you can read what we did and why to help our son with his tics.
It took us several months, but we started seeing improvement.
He is now tic free, with an occasional little jerk when he is very anxious, but you wouldn’t even notice it.
Before I tell you what helped my son, you can read about tics.
Understanding them more will help you to understand your child and help them better.
What are Tics
Tics are movements. But not just any movements; they are rapid, sudden, recurrent, and non-rhythmic.
There are two main types of tics: Motor tics (just the movement) and vocal tics.
Motor Tics
Some of the motor tics are:
- Blinking
- Grimacing
- Jerking or banging head
- Clicking the fingers
- Walking in a specific pattern (for example kicking in the air every few steps)
- Touching people and things
Vocal Tics
Vocal tics are motor tics but involve using the nose or respiratory muscles.
Vocal tics include:
- Sniffing
- Throat clearing
- Grunting
- Coughing
- Repeating words or phrases
- Stuttering like symptoms
- Coprolalia
Coprolalia
Coprolalia involves involuntary outbursts of obscene or socially inappropriate words.
It might be swearing (cursing), offensive remarks, references to genitals or excrement.
They might also involve obscene gestures.
These outbursts are not related to the situation, context or emotions when they happen.
They are just uncontrollable.
Why tics happen
Scientists and doctors don’t know precisely why tics happen.
Some of them claim that they have to do with the increased dopamine activity in the brain.
They noticed that people present more tics when stressed, anxious, excited or even happy.
How tics affect people
Tics may cause embarrassment and low self-esteem.
A person with tics might be a victim of bullying and social isolation.
Sometimes tics might cause pain or even accidental injury if the movements are violent.
People also notice that tics get worse if you focus on them, point them out or try to suppress them intentionally.
Who can be affected by tics
Anyone can be affected, but they often become more visible from 8 years of age and improve around puberty.
First-hand experience taught me that it was the case for my child.
Tourette Syndrom
When tics become long-lasting or chronic and interfere with daily life, the person might have Tourette syndrome.
To diagnose this neurodevelopmental condition, the person must have chronic tics for at least a year. They must be multiple and include at least one vocal tic.
Tourette syndrome might be treated with medication (often anti-psychotics or medication used for ADHD) or behavioural therapy.
In an extreme case, brain surgery can be performed, and electrodes can be fitted.
Treatment for tics
Tics, if mild, are not usually treated.
If they affect the person’s life or become chronic, medical treatment or therapy might be offered.
My son didn’t access any, and when I tried to knock on different doors to get help, no one wanted to do it.
So let me tell you what helped my child with his tics.
What I did to help my child with tics, and you can do it too
1. Ignore
Ignoring it, not paying attention and not talking about them helped to reassure my child that everything was okay.
He could relax more.
If you read the above, you can see that tics might be more frequent if a person is anxious or focuses on their tics.
So just try to ignore them. It might be difficult or even heartbreaking to see your child like that, but concentrating on their tics and bringing them up will only make them worse.
2. Reassure
To help my child with tics, I had to support him.
Reassuring my child that it was okay to have these tics helped ease his anxiety.
We talked about it, telling him that we knew he couldn’t control them and didn’t do these movements on purpose.
We encouraged him not to worry about what other people think and told him that real friends would always be there for him no matter what.
We also ensured we gave him lots of love and affection just to be there for him.
3. Calm down
It was challenging, but we all needed to calm down and accept the situation.
When we were worried or anxious trying to find solutions and help our child, he could sense it and get anxious, increasing the tics.
If you want your child to be calm and relaxed, you must model it first.
4. Talk to people
To help my child with tics, I talked to our close friends or neighbours or people we were in regular contact with as well as the school.
We explained to them what our son was going through.
We pointed out that his behaviours were not intentional and asked everyone to try not to pay attention to the tics.
5. Beat the stress and Anxiety
We tried to make sure that our son was as relaxed as possible.
You can read in this post how to help your child with anxiety.
To do it, we did the following:
Lavender oil
We used lavender essential oil in a pillow spray before bedtime and added it to the bubble bath.
Epsom salt
Epsom salt contains magnesium which is proven to help with anxiety.
We would make sure that our son has an Epsom salt bath two or three times a week.
On alternate days, he would have his feet soaked in warm water with added Epsom salt.
I wrote about using Epsom salt for Anxiety here.
Relaxing music
Every night before bed, we would play relaxing and calming music. Thank you, Youtube!
6. Supplements
To help my child with tics, I had to learn a lot.
Doing my research, I learned that the number one supplement for anxiety (and this is what seemed to help with my son’s tics) is magnesium.
I bought him a liquid one.
Then we tried tablets for children.
I have also found that vitamin B6 and L-theanine are good for anxiety, so we gave him these too.
7. Diet
There is some research done showing that diet can affect anxiety.
First, we tried to reduce junk and processed food and sweets. It is never good for you.
Then I came across the Keto diet.
It is often used in treating epilepsy and other neurological problems.
It made me think because epilepsy shows as seizures which are involuntary little movements and so are tics.
It wouldn’t be safe to drastically change my child’s diet without consulting a specialist.
Also, it is challenging for children to switch to any diet.
They might be fussy or feel they are missing out if their friends can eat whatever they want.
So we didn’t go to the extreme. We adapted some Keto diet principles and focused on them when preparing food for our son.
A Keto diet includes lots of proteins and fats and very few carbohydrates.
We tried to limit carbohydrates (pasta, bread) and ensure our son has lots of protein (eggs for breakfast, for example) and fats.
8. Sleep
We ensured that our son had plenty of sleep, early bedtime, and a relaxing bedtime routine.
I mentioned lavender pillow spray and baths above.
9. Excercise
People with tics can often suppress them when they exercise or perform (act or sing).
Exercise is also vital for being healthy and helping with anxiety.
We started taking our son to Karate which also helped with his self-confidence and lifted his mood.
10. Self-help books
And lastly, this is a book I bought for my son.
It is a self-help, age-appropriate book that uses CBT techniques (Cognitive behaviour therapy).
He loves books anyway.
This one includes exercises and encourages reflection, which helped our son with the anxiety causing his tics.
So how did it all end?
It wasn’t easy or quick, but we helped our child with his tics.
It has been a journey, but we didn’t give up even with all the obstacles on the way.
It also helped us to create some good habits.
We still do lavender pillow spray and Epsom salt baths now and then and try to eat healthily.
We all take magnesium supplements and eat dark chocolate (source of magnesium)
And what are your experiences with helping your child with their tics? Let me know in the comments.
Sources:
Rizzo, R., Prato, A., Scerbo, M., Saia, F., Barone, R., & Curatolo, P. (2022). Use of Nutritional Supplements Based on L-Theanine and Vitamin B6 in Children with Tourette Syndrome, with Anxiety Disorders: A Pilot Study. Nutrients, 14(4).
Sørensen CB, Skov L, Aaslet L, et al. (2021) Modified Atkins Diet for Tics Requiring Treatment in Tourette Syndrome: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Early Versus Late Initiation. J Pediatr Neurol Neurosci 5(1):86-94.
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