8 year old daughter suddenly has developed a neck tic

[user1499457116]

Hi,
Just hoping for some positive stories or some help.
My happy beautiful dd has developed a severe tic which involves her neck flipping backwards and to the side (like a gurning motion) which is leaving her in constant pain because of the severity of the motion.
She also became more anxious around being without me (to the extent of following me to the toilet) about a month prior which is also continuing.
Thankfully she is still happy and going to school, clubs etc without a problem.

Has anyone any experience of this, will it go? How long does it last for?

I have signed her up for play therapy to address the anxiety, waiting for an appointment.

Any advice would be great. I find it so upsetting to watch and know that it causes her pain.

My daughter went through a phase of this when she was a similar age. She didn't really notice she was doing it until I pointed it out and asked why.
I think she made a conscious effort not to do it. When she caught herself doing it she would stop herself. I was worried it would be a problem and she was a very nervous and shy child. It must have been anxiety related.
She grew out of it within a year, she's 16 now and I completely forgot about it until I read your post so I wouldn't be too concerned. Hope this helps.

Thank you so much for replying! That does help. ❤

My son developed a tic age 6, it lasted about a year. Prior to this, he was partially deaf (glue ear) and had changed schools due to us moving house. I think it was all too much for him. Once he had had gromits in, been able to hear properly for 6 months and settled in his school more the tic seemed to mostly disappear. It surfaces here and there when he is tired or overexcited. He has been referred for behavioural evaluation (adhd / mild autism).

is your daughter stressed about something? Are her friendships going ok? Any major changes?

One of my DDs developed the same tic when she was anxious about attending school. Once pressure was removed and support put in place, it faded, although her problems have come out in other ways now.

We have had this with my dd, it initially happened in covid around 6/7yo. It started with a shrug and morphed into a neck movement backwards. It settled as she went back to school after lockdown

apparently it was common in/around covid, especially in girls. Ours is a middle child and I think she found lockdown a bit of a pressure cooker with her sibs at times.

it came back in year 4 after an anxious holidays not enjoying holiday clubs and finding the start to year 4 stressful. We had sniffing, slurping in of the bottom lip and a head shake. We have had some support from her teacher and it has dialled down a lot. I think you are supposed to ignore it (I find it harder with the noisy ones) we have tried to avoid high pressure situations in the home, trying to spend lots of time reassuring and listening to her worries so there’s less pent up anxiety/frustration.

I have been told tics commonly wax and wane but usually they do grow out of it.

My son had a very similar tic at about the same age. We saw the GP and had a referral to a paediatrician who said it was just tics. His tic would move around and I think was anxiety related. He has pretty much grown out of tics but has a stammer now that he didn’t have before. I spoke to school about it so they could monitor the situation.

My son went through a number of different tics at junior school. We were open about them and called them his “habits” but other than that didn’t discuss them much. I have a minor tic myself (blinking) and my brother has them, so I didn’t think about them much.

They went away by senior school. I do think he was happier at senior school, which may be connected, I don’t know.

Not saying this is what it is for your daughter but just my experience. My Dd had a similar thing about age 10.

It started during a stressful period at school so put it down to that. When we saw the gp for therapy/chams referral and was advised that a huge hormone burst can also cause sudden ticks.

Dd started her periods about 6 months later and her ticks self resolved before we had an appointment from CHAMS.

I have had a neck tic for 25 years. Mine never completely goes but definitely does get worse through stress or lack of sleep.

DS1 had a variety of tics for about six months or so while he was a similar age. Never knew why, we didn't make a big thing about them and after a while they just stopped. He's 25 now and never had any recurrence.

Tics and separation anxiety are often signs of neurodivergence. Your DD might not have any other indicators, but it would be sensible to keep an eye on her for further developments, and ask school to monitor her for difficulties.

Thank you everyone for these messages. You can read stuff on Google but nothing beats parents real life experiences!

She did have an incident I think has caused the anxiety and ultimately the tic.
When she was 3 I was pushing her in the buggy when a car hit her and she was dragged under. I had to pull her out not knowing what I would find. She was covered in blood but ok (literally just cuts) and I completely lost it, I was screaming and my 3 year old had to tell me it would be ok. Ever since then she is highly tuned to my emotions and always worried if mummy is upset.
Anyway the court case happened in December just gone and we were told she HAD to be there.

We talked about what happened (in much less detail and she remembers it anyway) but I think this has resurfaced the trauma/anxiety.

Hopefully it will go after time and play therapy.

Oh gosh OP I’m so sorry. I hope the therapy helps her come to terms with her trauma

Thank you so much everyone for your replies I really appreciate it.
Just one question, how do you think you can distinguish between Tourettes Syndrome and anxiety induced tics?
I appreciate that is probably a medical question but wondered if anyone has been on that journey?

Gosh I think you know the cause of the tic surfacing.
Tic to Tourette's is a continuum but it's a long road from one to the other.
Is she having psychotherapy to help her process the court appearance that's coming up? As imagine that's what is triggering it

Not to worry you but I had a little boy in my family doing this. It was discovered much later that he was having partial seizures

We were told that unless there is a verbal tic, it’s not Tourettes. It’s probably a bit more complicated than in reality.

It's good to know the possibilities so we can ask the pediatrician when we meet, so thank you.

My tips are - don't talk about the tic. As eventually it will disappear. And if you do have to acknowledge it, to help, then try and replace with something not damaging, like clicking fingers. Something to sort of get the feeling out, but not hurting in the process.