Worried about my 8 year old- developed sudden involuntary eye movements

[Zaina89]

So last sunday we was travelling to Turkey - my 8 year old son has had no vision problems or health problems up until this point.
he was using his tablet a lot during the flight, as soon as we landed when we were in the car going to the hotel we noticed he was opening his eyes wide and moving his eyes to the side ( both ) at first we thought it was funny like what is he doing because he’s never done it before. Thought he may just be tired due to lack of sleep and that it might get better but it continued on into the coming days, some days he did it less other days he would do it a lot , worse when he was focusing or watching the tablet he would keep moving his eyes to the side. We got back yesterday and I noticed he hadn’t done it all day until I last him last night if his eyes were better and then he said no and suddenly moved his eyes to the side so I did think at that point he was doing this himself although he is adamant his eyes make him do it although his eyes don’t hurt.

he had an emergency eye test today as he was due anyway, optician said is vision is amazing, his eyes look healthy and his eye muscles look ok and to be quite honest she has never seen anything like this so she would need to refer him to the children’s hospital for a second opinion.

i have severe health anxiety anyway, I asked her if I should worry and she said due to his age it could be his eye muscles so we’ll just wait to see what the hospital says but she’ll talk to her supervisor.

her supervisor came to me and asked how long this had been happening and I explained the same. He said it could be a tic but could be nurological and his eyes look healthy so he needs an urgent referral for tests and scans and I burst into tears and I’m now convinced he has a brain tumor ( I am a hypochondriac and am now on medication)

I was hoping it was something he was doing on purpose, the closest thing I’ve seen to what he’s doing online is eye motor tic as he has recently started twitching his nose a lot and clearing his throat but when I heard him say “ could be something neurological) my mind has gone to the worst.

he is otherwise a healthy 8 year old, they said he’s got an urgent referral which will take between 2/4 weeks so now I’m more concerned it being urgent.

any advice to help put my mind at rest would be appreciated

Have you taken him to a doctor? You need to do that. If he does it again video it if you can and I would consider then going to a&e. Try not to freak out, brain tumors aren't the only reason for unusual eye movements. Conditions like epilepsy could be blamed and may not even be permanent. It could also just be some sort of tic. It's really important to try and video it though so doctors and neurologists can try to determine the cause.

You're moving through the system now. Try to stay calm for his sake. I'm sure your thoughts are spinning.

They have now put an urgent referral in to the children’s hospital so should I still take him to a doctor? I thought with it being his eyes an eye test would be the first bet but she’s said everything’s normal. He was doing it in front of her and when it’s pointed out he does it even more. I have lots of videos of it on my phone that I’ve been taking over the last week

I’m trying to but yes my mind is going to all sorts. There is honestly times I feel he’s putting it on and then other times I get really concerned. He’s otherwise well and acting perfectly normal

Referrals can take weeks. Does your gp have an online system that you can upload the video to? I really think it would help for a dr to see it sooner so you know if it might need more urgent treatment.

Take the tablet off him completely he's probably straining his eyes up close, poor posture and has developed an annoying tic like some other kids his age do. You're getting tests etc so no need to show any worried reaction or attention as he will feed off it. Xx

You can ring the children's hospital and see when the referral will be put through, maybe? They'll usually have a receptionist or admin team.

Sending a hand hold. My DS developed an unusual repetitive facial grimace last year. I went to A&E as it was every few seconds and really quite alarming. It came literally out of nowhere. Saw a few consultants and eventually a neurologist and it was diagnosed as a tic. It went as quickly as it came although he periodically has new tics - including eye movements like your sons - which tend to again go as soon as they’ve arrived. The key is to totally ignore them once confirmed they are tics.

I have terrible health anxiety too so I understand entirely why you are worrying about brain tumours but they are rare in children and likely he would have a multitude of other symptoms too. Of course you need to get things ruled out but try and stay calm, don’t focus on the eye movements and they may calm down in a few days/weeks anyway.

Does sound like a motor tic to me. Best thing to do is try to ignore it completely.

Ds got a few tics like this like opening eyes wide and scrunching his nose. Also making funny noises with his mouth and having to tap the table with his forearms. It seemed to coincide with his class being mixed up aged 8. I massaged him to help him relax and tried to interrupt the tics gently. They did stop. He’s an adult now and just clears his throat/ sounds like he’s laughing to himself a bit sometimes. I think it’s perhaps linked a bit to adhd as well.

If it was something like a brain tumour, he'd likely have developed other symptoms so I'd try not to worry even though I know it's hard. Sounds like a tic is the most likely option and hopefully he'll just grow out of it.

Is it not nystagmus. ? I have it and can move my eyes side to side really quick