We mainly see it in children: tics or nervous twitches. It often occurs in childhood, but can persist throughout adulthood. This concerns involuntary muscle twitching. The nerves send a signal to the muscles, causing them to be stimulated and movements to occur. These signals should normally not be passed on. The cause is probably stress or tension. Tourette’s syndrome causes an excess of tics. These symptoms last for more than a year and, in addition to motor tics, are also characterized by at least one vocal tic. With mild tics or nervous twitches we sometimes see these disappear spontaneously. In other cases, treatment is sometimes necessary.
What are nervous twitches?
Nerve twitching is also called a tic or nervous tic. We often see it in children, but also in adults. The nervous twitches can often be seen in the face or in the shoulders. This concerns involuntary and repetitive movements that are made. Nervous twitches should not be confused with, for example, a twitching eyelid or spasm of the pectoral muscle.
Causes
Stress or tension often plays a role in the development of nervous twitches. In most cases this happens at a young age. Things are not going well during parenting, or the child is experiencing something that causes tension. The child can respond to this by making movements. In this case, they are often conscious movements that later become a habit. But with a nervous tic we mainly see involuntary movements. The muscles are stimulated unintentionally in some way. The exact cause of this is not clear, but it is suspected that stress does play a role in this.
Tourette’s syndrome
This is a serious form of twitching. It often occurs at a young age. This is a neuro-psychiatric condition that is hereditary. The way of raising and growing up ultimately determines whether the child develops tics. Characteristic are the many tics that occur in different forms. This often first starts around the age of four to five years.
Symptoms
Not everyone with a tic has the same symptoms. In addition, it also depends on the severity. In Tourette’s syndrome, tics occur much more often and several times than in someone with a mild form. A tic often occurs on the face. For example, we see the raising of the corners of the mouth, frequent blinking of the eyes, clearing the throat, sniffing, coughing, turning the head, etc. The shoulders can also be involved: raising the shoulders, sometimes in combination with facial movements. Another tic is fidgeting with the hands, feet, legs, etc. In principle, a tic can occur anywhere, but we see it most often in the face and shoulders. The tics are often short-lived. A tic should not be confused with normal fidgeting with the hands, which we often see in shy people or insecure children.
In Tourette’s syndrome, the symptoms are more severe. Multiple tics occur. These are a series of tics in a row. For example, we often see excessive blinking of the eyes, snapping of the fingers or turning of the head. In addition, one or more vocal tics occur. These are tics that produce a sound. This may involve clicking the tongue, growling, coughing or snorting. But we also see many patients emitting swear words. This occurs in approximately 15-20 percent of patients with this syndrome. The sounds or words are emitted explosively. Echolalia is also seen in Tourette’s syndrome. This involves compulsively repeating words spoken by others.
But how exactly do you recognize a tic? This is quite simple. When someone makes movements and is asked to stop and this is possible for the person, it is not a tic. If you are asked to stop and this only worsens the symptoms, then it is most likely a tic. Consciously holding back the movements only worsens the tics.
Therapy
A tic does not always need to be treated. Only when the patient himself starts to suffer from it and is therefore no longer able to function normally, is treatment advisable. It is also necessary to treat if the child or adult is bullied or made fun of, or experiences other psychological problems due to the tics. But there are also cases where it is easy to hide or the development of tics is minimal.
Treatment often consists of behavioral therapy or psychotherapy. Sometimes medications are prescribed. In Tourette’s syndrome, the tics often decrease when the child is around 18 years old. In only a small proportion of these patients do the tics remain unabated. When purchasing, we often see a residual portion left over. This no longer disappears in adulthood. Once again, treatment may be necessary, for example with medication. Tourette’s syndrome must be diagnosed by a neurologist or psychologist. It is not the case that the presence of tics immediately indicates this syndrome. Patients with this syndrome also often suffer from ADHD, sleep problems, concentration disorders, autism spectrum disorder, compulsive actions or obsessive thoughts.
