Transient tic disorder (patient information)

Transient tic disorder is a temporary condition in which a person makes one or many brief, repeated, difficult to control movements or noises (tics).

• The child may have facial tics or tics involving movement of the arms, legs, or other areas.

• Tics may involve:

• Movements that occur again and again and don’t have a rhythm
• An overwhelming urge to make the movement
• Brief and jerky movements that include the following:

• Blinking
• Clenching the fists
• Curling the toes
• Flaring the nostrils
• Grimacing
• Jerking the arms
• Kicking
• Opening the mouth
• Raising the eyebrows
• Shrugging the shoulders
• Sticking out the tongue

• The tics often look like nervous behavior. Tics appear to get worse with stress and do not occur during sleep.

• Sounds may also occur, such as:

• Clicking
• Grunting
• Hissing
• Moaning
• Sniffing
• Snorting
• Squealing
• Throat clearing

• Transient tic disorder is common in children.

• The cause of transient tic disorder can be physical or mental (psychological).

• It may be a mild form of Tourette syndrome.

• Talk to your health care provider if you are concerned about a transient tic disorder, especially if it continues or disrupts your child’s life.

• If you are not sure whether the movements are a tic or a seizure, call your health care provider right away.

• The health care provider should consider physical causes of transient tic disorder before making a diagnosis.

• In order to be diagnosed with transient tic disorder, the child must have had tics almost every day for at least 4 weeks, but less than a year.

• Other disorders such as anxiety, attention deficit disorder, myoclonus, obsessive-compulsive disorder, epilepsy, and focal dystonia, may need to be ruled out.

• Health care providers recommend that family members do NOT call attention to the tics at first, because unwanted attention may make the tics worse.

• If tics are severe enough to cause problems in school or work, behavioral techniques and medications may help.

Directions to Hospitals Treating Transient tic disorder

Simple childhood tics usually disappear over a period of months.

• There are usually no complications.

• A chronic motor or vocal tic disorder can develop.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000747.htm

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