What to do about motor tics that just started happeninh about 3 months ago?

[gojusensei]

My son just started occassionally moving his head as if he is clearing his hair from his eyes. This started about 3 months ago. Shortly after he started opening his mouth wide and this has now increased to the point that it is noticeable. A few times a minute. When I asked him if he was aware of what he was doing he said no. I asked him if he had any pain in the jaw or knew of any other reason for doing what he was doing. He said no. So I am not sure wether I should worry about it? I'm thinking of taking him in to see his pediatrician to rule out anything serious. From my internet searches I ended up here. He is doing very well in school and is a popular kid. Not sure if there is any corelation but he is afraid of the dark and has many bad dreams. When I ask him about them he can't remember what they are; just that they were bad dreams. I told him to let me know if anything is happening at school that might be stressing him out. I will be speaking to his teacher to see if she has noticed anything and to keep an eye him to see if stressful situations increase the frequency of this behavior. What should I watch for? Can this be treated? Will he grow out of it? Kind of at a loss ... any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Joseph

[heyjude1]

I had tourettes as a kid.  I had rapid eye blinking without being aware I was even doing it.  My Tourettes was a mild case and went away after a year or so.  After the kids at school so cruely made me aware of what I was doing, I made efforts to be aware of blinking my eyes.  Even now, at57 yrs old, I sometimes stop and think, am I blinking my eyes.

Most kids do out grow it but speaking from a kid that had Tourettes, I wish my parents would have taken me to see a doctor or neurologist for medication...even that even had medication for Tourettes back them.  Kids can be so creul and it can cause self esteem issues down the line.  There is medication to help control the Tourettes and if I were the parent, I would not hesitate to take my son to the doctor.

[ZiggyFry]

When children are growing up, a good portion of them have tics at one point or another. Only a small percent of kids who tic actually have tourettes.

Either way you shouldn't worry. It's a good idea to take him in to see if it's something serious, but it is most likely something he will grow out of. Thinking back to elementary/early middle school, there were a lot of people in my class who would tic, but almost everyone grew out of them.

Lastly, I think he is probably aware that he is doing it. When I was younger, I would always deny it if someone asked about it. "my eyes are just dry" or "I just have a cough"

To be diagnosed as tourettes syndrome, the tics have to last a year or more, and there must be at least 1 vocal tic, so by definition, right now, it isn't tourettes.

Sin.Ziggy.