Tic Disorder

Tourette Syndrome (TS) is a condition of the nervous system. TS causes people to have “tics”. Tics are sudden twitches, movements, or sounds that people do repeatedly. People who have tics cannot stop their body from doing these things. For example, a person might keep blinking over and over. Or, a person might make a grunting sound unwillingly.
Having tics is a little bit like having hiccups. Even though you might not want to hiccup, your body does it anyway. Sometimes people can stop themselves from doing a certain tic for a while, but it’s hard. Eventually the person has to do the tic. Depending on the type of tics a person has, and how long the tics last, a person might be diagnosed with Tourette syndrome or another type of tic disorder.

There are two types of tics—motor and vocal.

Motor Tics: Motor tics are movements of the body. Examples of motor tics include blinking, shrugging the shoulders, or jerking an arm.
Vocal Tics: Vocal tics are sounds that a person makes with his or her voice. Examples of vocal tics include humming, clearing the throat, or yelling out a word or phrase.

Tics can be either simple or complex:

Simple Tics: Simple tics involve just a few parts of the body. Examples of simple tics include squinting the eyes or sniffing.
Complex Tics: Complex tics usually involve several different parts of the body and can have a pattern. An example of a complex tic is bobbing the head while jerking an arm, and then jumping up.

The main symptoms of TS are tics. A person can have tics ranging from simple, temporary tics lasting a few weeks or months, to having many complex tics that are long-lasting. Symptoms of TS usually begin when a child is 5 to 10 years of age. The first symptoms often are motor tics that occur in the head and neck area.

The types of tics and how often a person has tics changes a lot over time. Even though the symptoms might appear, disappear, and reappear, these conditions are considered chronic.

In most cases, tics decrease during adolescence and early adulthood, and sometimes disappear entirely. However, many people with TS experience tics into adulthood and, in some cases, tics can become worse during adulthood.1

Although the media often portray people with TS as involuntarily shouting out swear words (called coprolalia) or constantly repeating the words of other people (called echolalia), these symptoms are rare, and are not required for a diagnosis of TS.

Doctors and scientists do not know the exact cause of TS. Research suggests that it is an inherited genetic condition. That means it is passed on from parent to child through genes.

If you or someone you know is experiencing symptoms of the above, please contact JKC Clinic through phone or online for proper diagnosis and treatment recommendations tailored to your specific situation.