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Child Behavior  (Expert Forum)
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10 year old with facial tics
Answered by
Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D. - Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy, Family Therapy, Crisis Intervention
Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates
This forum is for questions and support regarding child behavior issues such: Child Discipline (behavior management), Normal Child Development, Parent-Child Communications, Social Development
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MedHelp Member's Question

10 year old with facial tics

by mrs crow, Sep 12, 2006 12:00AM
my grandson is having uncontrolable movements they started about 1 yr ago and are getting worse-first eyes were blinking, now his mouth is moving and his head moves around like someone who is stretching his neck. please give me any help you can.
Doctor's Answer

by Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D., Sep 12, 2006 12:00AM
Such involuntary muscle movements invite immediate medical evaluation. There is no single explanation for such movements, and the main goal of an evaluation would be to pinpoint what is occurring and why it is happening. Tics in childhood can be benign and transient, not requiring any medical treatment, they can be symptomatic of some neurological condition, or they can be side effects of certain medications. Be sure to ask his parents to arrange an appointment with his pediatrician, who can then decide if the situation warrants an evaluation by a pediatric neurologist.
Member Comments (10)

by who_dis, Sep 12, 2006 12:00AM
Has he been to a pediatrician and a pediatric neurologist?  If not, that's the first place you should be looking for help.  

Good luck.

by helliott, Sep 14, 2006 12:00AM
I am writing this in response to the question posted by Mrs. Crow.... My son who is 9-1/2 has had the same tic problems for several years now.  It started out with the eye blinking, has other facial, nose and throat tics as well as the neck stretching and even some abdominal tics.  Our pediatrician referred us to a pediatric neurologist who has been treating my son for the past 2-3 years.  Before the tics started, my son had been diagnosed with ADD for which he was treated with various stimulant medications.  Sometime after that he developed the tics.  It was our feeling that the tics were brought on by the medication.  We were told that this may be the case but our son was most likely (reason unknown) predisposed to have this tic disorder.  My son still takes the stimulant medication for his ADD but also takes medication for his tics.  The medication does really seem to help.  His tics tend to increase and decrease at various times.  He was virtually tic free all summer.  We were SO happy.  Now he has a significant flare-up which is why I went online to do more research.  I am going to call his neurologist this morning to see what we can do... adjust or change the medication he is on for the tics.  I know alot of parents don't want to put their child on medication, I know I didn't.  But these tics are disruptive to my son not to mention the potential social impact.  Just wanted to tell my story to let you know that there are others out there going through the same sort of thing.

by JT Stevens, Sep 17, 2006 12:00AM
My son is going on 10 years old. He took Adderal XR 20 mg. a few months before school was out last year.  He started sniffing his hands constantly before school was out.  I took him off the meds for the summer  but never put 2 and 2 together.  3 Days before school started this year I started him back on his meds (same dose) 2 or 3 weeks on the meds he started the eye blinking. I took him off the meds immediatly after speaking with his dr.  I seem to notice the tics more often when he is in sports or under stress.  The tics did go away but as I said when he is under stress they seem to come back. I am praying they go away.  I am setting up an appointment with his dr to have him go see a neurogolist.  I feel the meds brought it on.  Please, if anyone has any good advise, please let me know.  I hear that the tics could go away if you get off the meds, but in our case that has not happen.

Please inform on anything you know to help my son.

Thank you

by helliott, Sep 18, 2006 12:00AM
To JT Stevens:  Our sons are the same age and we seem to be dealing with alot of the same issues.  As I said in my previous posting, my son is in the midst of a flare-up of his tics.  When he has a flare up the tics are pretty substantial.  When not going through a flare-up, tics could be basically gone or fairly minimal.  I called our neurologist last week to inform him of the increase of the tics and he said that he sees alot of this at the beginning of a new school year with all the changes, anxiety, etc.  I would agree with him.  As with your son, when my son is tired, stressed or anxious the tics do get worse.  After speaking with the doctor, he suggested that we adjust his medication... take him off the Concerta (27mg) and continue him on the Tenex (2.5mg twice daily).  After discussing this with my husband (he is a physician) we decided to try decreasing the Concerta to 18mg and continue on the Tenex.  We just knew that our son needed the Concerta for the ADD.  Even after just one day of being on the decreased dose, his teacher could see a change in his attentiveness.  We are fortunate that she is very supportive and works with us.  I have seen a slight decrease in the tics over the past few days.  Maybe the decreased dose is having a positive effect on the tics.  We have tried Adderall, Strattera, Ritalin but Concerta works the best for him.  My son also sniffs his hands constantly.  That doesn't really bother me it is the eye and facial tics because they are disruptive and bothersome to him.  I too pray that we find the right mix of meds for the tics and ADD.

by JT Stevens, Sep 18, 2006 12:00AM
To: Helliott
Helliott

Thank you for your response. My son did see his Dr. today and we have set up an appointment for him to see the Neurologist next month.  I agree the hand sniffing did not bother me the way the eye tics do.  I know it bothers him when he does it.  Did the Neurologist do an EEG on your son?  How long does it take?  Were they able to tell you anything about what causes the tics?  I may have missed it in your comments if you are repeating yourself, I apologize.  I am new at posting these comments, so when I returned to Thread, it lost my previous message. My dr. feels alot of the problem is stress as well with school.  He thinks my son is fine and that it will go away in a few weeks.  I pray he is right.  The Dr. took my son off all caffine(only 7up or sprite).

We are not giving him any meds or vitamins until after he sees the new Dr.  I spoke with my sons teachers today and they definitly see a difference in my sons concentration and attitude.  I hate hearing it but I cannot take the chance until I know what could possibly be wrong. I did read that these tics can go away on their own by the teen years.  I hope it all passes.  This is not only stressful for the child but for the parents as well.  Please keep me informed on anything you hear.

Thanks for listening.

by helliott, Sep 21, 2006 12:00AM
JT Stevens

My apologies that it's taken so long to respond back to you.... it's been one of those weeks!!  In response to your questions... I don't believe that my son ever had an EEG done.  I know he did have an MRI done several years ago at the onset of the tics.  This has been going on for so long now that it's hard for me to remember all the particulars.  My son's situation seems to be a textbook case based on all that I have read.  I have read that kids that have ADD are likely to have another disorder along with it (tics, obbsessive compulsive disorder)with the onset beginning between 5-7 years of ago.  If I recall that is the timeframe that it was determined that my son had ADD and then also during that time the tics began.  It seems in my research that tics with ADD isn't all that uncommon.  But why our boys, right??  I ask myself that all the time.  I have also read that there is potential in the teen years for the tics