Tourette’s Syndrome
Lee Health Pediatric Neurologist Dr. Guillermo Philipps said tics are common in kids. “About one in every five kids may have tics during childhood age, and then a subset of these children go on to have chronic tics, and then about a half a percent of kids have Tourette’s.”
However, Tourette’s is defined by having multiple motor or vocal tics occurring frequently, before the child turns 18, and lasting longer than a year. “There’s a broad number of things that can be tics, it can be blinking, it can be rolling your eyes, it can be making facial grimaces, head movements, neck movements, and other body movements. They can be simple or complex,” said Dr. Philipps.
If you see that your child has tics, take note of what they’re doing. “Does it seem to bother the child? Does it seem like there’s anything that might be triggering or affecting them? Then touch base with your pediatrician.” People with Tourette’s often have coexisting disorders. “These include attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, mood disorders like depression, anxiety, learning problems, and other types of behavioral problems. Assessing for those and controlling for those and, addressing those can often help the tics,” said Dr. Philipps.
The tics can be triggered by stress. The severity can be thought of on a spectrum from mild to severe. Dr. Philipps said while there’s no cure, habit reversal training is possible. “That’s where therapist teaches the child to recognize the tics, and then to produce a movement that would essentially replace the tic.”
Tics usually peak from age 7-12 and decline as the child ages; however, some will have tics into adulthood.
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