Blinking Incessantly

[Flowertop]

Hi my DS2 has started to blink all the time and it is driving me mad. Have asked him if he can see property i.e. tv/white board and he seems ok. It seems more of a nervous thing. So a) has anyone had this b) will it go away c) should i ignore d) any help will be appreciated. He has just got over an episode of 'snorting' all the time which has now gone but replaced by 'blinking'
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Hi- my DS4 has gone/is going through this. gets worse depending on levels of tiredness etc - have had his eyes checked and they are fine! I hear that these kind of 'tics' are quite common in children and the best thing to do is ignore - they ususally go away on their own. Hope that helps a bit.

Could it be hay fever?

Agree. It's probably a 'tic'. Sometimes these are more apparent due to tiredness or stress. On the whole, I think they are transient.

DS did this for about 6mnths from aged 3. I even took him to GP as thought there was something wrong with his eyes. GP very good and gave me eye drops and said if DS starts blinking ask if he wants the drops in (he never did). This should make them aware that they are doing it but not make a deal out of it. It seemed to work in that he would stop doing it when the drops were mentioned,( but start again later unconciously). Gradually it stopped happening.

is he playing with a playstation - my son twitched for a while then snorted and then blinked - phases all of them and I traced it back to that. i founf it all quite worrying because he wasn't in front of it for long at all but when you read the smallprint of games it says it could lead to epilepsy which worried me

Could be

1/ allergy, often pollen-related
2/ habit!
3/ accommodative/convergence problem.
How old is your ds?

my ds (5) has lots of tics when he is tired or stresed. The worse so far has been a rolling of his eyes like some axe wielding maniac! Just ignore-eventually they seem to get out of the habit

My DS does it too. Had it checked at an eye specialist a few weeks ago as he had an infection of some kind too. She thought it might be an allergy. He only seems to do it when tired.

He did also make a duck like noise in his throat for ages which drove DH mad which in turn drove me mad! Was usually when he was concentrating on something.

Was interested in your playstation question elliot3 as DS does play on a playstation and has developed a tic thing then too - makes a noise like a racing car even if not playing racing car game. Have gotten a bit lax on how often he plays - may re-introduce the timer.

budababe - it's interesting, he definitley twitched when he started playing it and played for far too long and he's recently started again and is blinking his eyes lots when he's watching tv - says his eyes are sore _I'm sure they can't be good for you

elliot3, I would hazard a guess that your ds could have a focussing issue which would cause strain on his visual system while on the PSP. A regular eye exam might pick this up but I'd suggest booking an examination with one of the optometrists on this list if any are near you. One of my colleauges said she cured a child of his "blinking" with six weeks of vision therapy. He had been blinking for six years!

Hi my DS2 is more of a kind of actually squeezing closed his eyes - like a squinting. It started with the blinking and has now developed into this squeezing shut of the eyes. We have had eye test and all ok there. Kids have started to tease him which isn't helping either.

FT, does it seem like he can't help it?

Yes it seems like he just can't help it.

FT, who did the eye exam, optometrist or opthalmologist?

CM thanks for coming back to me on this. I went to an optitian who carried out a full eye examination. So not sure of her actual title. Do you think I should go and see someone else.
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An Optometrist then! That's what we call ourselves, the public call us opticians!
OK, most children who do this are doing it out of habit and the fact that your ds2 started it after a snorting habit suggests that in all likelihood it is just a new habit to replace the old one! Usually it ceases after about 3 months igf this is the case

If he is still doing it in 3 months then it could be either an uncorrected refractive error or a problems with the lids/lashes or dry eye. Now re the uncorrected eye problem, I would feel that perhaps a standard eye examination would not be enough to pick up every possible type of error. I do feel that a Behavioural Optometrist from the list below might be better as the exam is a lot more detailed. ( I am studying this type of optometry at the moment) If a problem is found then it is more likely that he would be given exercises or Vision Therapy to do, rather than glasses.

The other type of problem e.g a problem with the lids/lashes would be picked up in a normal eye test if a slit lamp examination were done, your ds would have to have put his head into a forehead/chin-rest and a microscope examination carried out. If this was not done, it would be very difficult to spot a problem like this as they occur on a microscopic level. Most problems like this would be treated with eye drops.

In very, very rare cases it can be a neurological problem but this is so uncommon that you would have to have exhausted all the above options before seeking a referral to query this.

Sorry this was very long but hope it helps!

CM thanks for spending the time to explain this. So I will give it 3 months from when he started and then seek further help from the list you kindly posted. Luckily there is one very close to our home.
At least I know that there is some further advice to seek out. I did believe that when I went to the opticians and they said all was good that that was it.
thanks again.
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