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Original poster

Excessive blinking

15 replies

Sparklemummyx0x0x · 26/01/2019 13:09

Hi
So my 8 year old son has developed an excessive blinking habit over the past few months. Not really sure why this has started. I don't even think he realises he is doing it.
His eyes look fine, not complaining of any pain or irritation. He had his sight checked last year and all was fine but this was before the blinking started.

So I wasn't really too worried as he's otherwise a healthy active child.

But then last night we are watching tv and he's led on my chest and noticed he's kind of twitching his head too, can't explain but he will randomly and slightly jerk his head upwards.
Now I'm noticing it all the time, just now he's doing it watching tv and he hasn't got a clue he's doing it.

Could it be something more serious? Could it be a mild tic symptom?
It worrying me now. Should I get him checked?

I can video him if it helps?

OP posts:
INeedNewShoes · 26/01/2019 13:11

It sounds like it could well be a tic but I would definitely take him to the GP next week.

I knew a 7 year old who developed a tic of clicking with her throat. No one drew any attention to it and it went naturally after about 6 months. So it does happen, but as your DS is showing additional new movements I would want any other cause ruled out.

nocoolnamesleft · 26/01/2019 16:51

Definitely video. Could well be a tic. Tiny, tiny chance it could be something called eyelid myoclonia, which can go along with absence fits, so worth having at the back of the mind.

Nodressrehearsal · 26/01/2019 22:31

My son had this for a while just ignore it & it will soon go way, he was 6/7 years and it went of for 2 or 3 months xx

LL83 · 27/01/2019 07:48

My dd 8 had a cough we suspected was a tic. She had been anxious at the time.

We didn't mention it and tried to reassure her about anxieties and did some meditation. It went within 3-4 weeks.

planespotting · 27/01/2019 07:58

I had this as a child
It was stressed induced in my case as I have suffered from anxiety all my life!
It started when I was asked to do a performance at a family event

I see my sister still does it. I went to the school psychologist and she helped me with relaxation exercises and so on

Does he know that he us doing it?

planespotting · 27/01/2019 07:59

just ignore it & it will soon go way, he was 6/7 years and it went of for 2 or 3 month
Please don't do this

Nutellar · 27/01/2019 08:36

OP, excessive blinking and head jerking could simply be transient tics. It is transient if they lastfor LESS THAN a year.

However, excessive blinking is also usually the first sign of Tourette’s syndrome. It becomes Tourettes if the tics involve motor (involuntary movement of any part of the body) and verbal tics (involuntary sounds, coughs, noises, words etc) lasting for MORE THAN 1yr. Notice it has to have been going on for over 1yr.

All you can do right now is watch. Of course visit the GP. Tics also wax and wane. So one tic can suddenly appear out on nowhere and be quite intense and then it will suddenly disappear only to be replaced with something else. Most tics don’t require medication and do get better on their own but can be difficult as a mother to watch and distressing for the sufferer as they grow older and start to be aware of the self. Let’s hope for now they are just transient.

BiscuitDrama · 27/01/2019 08:38

just ignore it & it will soon go way, he was 6/7 years and it went of for 2 or 3 month
Please don't do this

Why not? plane This was the advice we were given when both DD had a blinking tic and DS had a vocal one.

planespotting · 27/01/2019 09:04

@BiscuitDrama who advised?
In my personal experience, the tic was a physical manifestation of what was going inside of me. I was bullied because kids will pick up on these things, they would copy my blinking and laugh and call me a weirdo, but it was ignored by my parents or they didn't act on it until it was so bad that they had to speak to the psychologist.
Had they intervened earlier, I probably wouldn't have the creeping anxiety and self consciousness that came from the bullying

BiscuitDrama · 27/01/2019 09:10

GP. Obviously if anyone had mentioned it to them I wouldn’t have left it.

I think the danger is that if you mention it to them they are more likely to continue it. Whereas if you don’t, they often burn themselves out naturally.

planespotting · 27/01/2019 09:41

@BiscuitDrama I didn't mean to say that you didn't care about them or anything. I have a raging cold and an overexcited toddler
For me it was good that is was acknowledge and stopped soon after that.
My sister still does it and I think it is because she doesn't even know
I don't agree with what you say about knowing about it making it worse

In my case, after I was aware and learnt to be aware of when I was doing it, I learnt to control it and it went away. I guess it was a way of mindfulness before it was even a word?
GPs are not always trained on these kind of things and can be dismissive.

MrsChollySawcutt · 27/01/2019 09:59

My DS had several different transient tics that started at this age. The first one was Blinking then that stopped for a while then he started coughing for a few months then that stopped again then it was sniffing and so on.

Doctors advice was always to ignore and it would go away. He is 11 now and has been tic free for about 2 years.

I hated it, it was so hard not to say 'stop sniffing/coughing' etc and I was so worried that he was unhappy or being bullied but we never found any real reason for the tics starting or stopping.

He is a deep thinker, exceptionally bright, very mathematical brain. My own theory is that he used the tics when his brain was on overdrive to slow himself down. He definitely used them when he was stressed- class assembly in front of parents was when we first noticed the blinking.

LL83 · 27/01/2019 11:47

With my dd I didn't discuss tic but still worked on the anxiety she felt(not about tic). Drawing attention to her cough would make my dd self concious of it.

Ilovecrumpets · 27/01/2019 14:34

Hi everyone

Have just found this thread as my 6 nearly 7 year old son has just started excessive blinking. Before Christmas he had an excessive sniff that went on for about 5 weeks and then stopped.

He is an anxious child and a bit of a deep thinker plus been going through a difficult year ( ex left) and lots of pressure on him at school to behave ( he can be too chatty and defiant - but I have a background concern he is being over monitored a bit now).

Just wondered other than a GP visit ( although seemed to be mixed opinion on this) if anyone found anything else that helped their child ( assuming it turns out to be a transient tic)? The tics seemed to have coincide with him otherwise seeming to be a lot happier or now I’m wondering perhaps just less outwardly expressing his anger/feelings.

SummerbodyIwish · 01/02/2019 00:17

My ds does this when there has been too much screen time.

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