Nervous Tics in a Ten Year Old - They’re Back
After a good, long run, our ten year old’s nervous tics came back this spring. Once again, he’s been experiencing involuntary blinking and has also been wrinkling his forehead. I don’t think it’s all that apparent to casual acquaintances, but it’s incredibly obvious to us.
It’s hard to say exactly what (if anything) triggered it this time around. While his tics have been stress-induced in the past, his last bout occurred in the absence of any apparent stressors. Moreover, he hasn’t experienced anything particularly stressful in recent weeks.
The only thing that I can think of is that his tics re-emerged right around the time of his spring buzz cut. Perhaps that sort of change to his appearance made him feel a bit self-conscious? That doesn’t seem particularly likely, as he actually likes having his hair buzzed. More than likely, that was just a coincidence.
As before, we’ve gone out of our way not to draw any attention to it. Rather, we’re assuming that it will just go away on its own as it always has in the past.
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Might it not be teasing from other kids? They might be making him nervous with comments about his new looks. It might not be too obvious though.
Comment by Riaan — Apr 18th 2008 @ 8:00 amRiann: Could be, but it’s not like him to embrace something so fully if they’re actually a source of angst. I suspect that the haircut and tics are coincidental in this case, and that something else (hormonal changes, etc.) is at play in this case.
Have you checked with epilepsy - scary sounding, I know, but the ‘eye flutters’ were one of the largest symptoms my niece had prior to being diagnosed.
Not an alarmist, really - just thought it may be helpful.
P.S.(She’s 14 now and puberty seems to have helped - asymptomatic for 2 years now.)
Comment by Deb — May 30th 2008 @ 1:12 pm