Hand Twitching

My 13 year old has just started complaning of some shaking in her hands. I was thinking that it is caused from too much computer use at home----could this cause the hands to twitch and shake?

[Neuro Forum]

Thanks for using the forum. I am happy to address your questions, and my answer will be based on the information you provided here. Please make sure you recognize that this forum is for educational purposes only, and it does not substitute for a formal office visit with your doctor.

Without the ability to examine your daughter and obtain a history, I can not tell you what the exact cause of her symptoms is. However I will try to provide you with some useful information.

I am not sure what exactly you mean by shaking and tremor, but I will provide some information on tremor, which is one possibility. Tremor in adolescents could have many causes. One of the most common is called enhanced physiologic tremor: everyone has a very subtle tremor, but in adolescents, with excitement or fatigue or caffeine or exercise etc, the tremor can be brought out. Another possibility is what is called benign essential tremor; this type of tremor runs in families and is most obvious with action, such as with eating or drinking from a cup. If the tremor only occurs during specific tasks, then this could be called task-specific tremor, which has specific causes related to abnormal muscle contraction. If the twitches are sudden muscle jerks, one possibility is that these could be what is medically termed myoclonus, of which there are several causes, but epilepsy would be the most concerning.

As you can see there are many potential causes, some more worrisome than others. If a specific type of tremor or myoclonus is diagnosed, treatment is available for many of the types. Evaluation by your daughter's pediatrician is recommended, with referral to a pediatric neurologist as indicated.

Thank you for this opportunity to answer your questions, I hope you find the information I have provided useful, good luck.