Nervous tic

Nervous tic this the involuntary, repeating, sharp reduction of a muscle or group of muscles. The phenomenon this frequent, faced manifestations of a nervous tic, or observed it, almost all people.

The most widespread is the nervous tic of an eye, but very few people know that the nervous tic can look and as the difficult movements, and as bawling out of words including obscene and as pronouncing strange sounds. The disease can be shown at any age, the nervous tic occurs at the child by 10 times more often than at the adult.

Reasons of a nervous tic

Nervous tics can be primary, that is arisen as independent frustration of a nervous system, and secondary, appeared as a result of a brain disease. Also allocate group of hereditary nervous tics.

• Primary, or psychogenic nervous tics. Usually nervous tic at the child appears aged from five up to seven years which at children's psychologists is considered the most vulnerable from the point of view of emotional influence. The most frequent reason of a nervous tic in this case – a psychoemotional injury, and as acute (a one-time stress as a result of, for example, presence at a family quarrel) and chronic (feeling of abandonment, dislike of mother, the overestimated requirements to the child). In some cases the reason of a nervous tic and remains obscure.
• Secondary, or symptomatic nervous tics. Develop as a result of an injury including patrimonial, tumors or disturbances of metabolism of a brain at various diseases, being one of symptoms. And in this case not only diseases of a brain and a nervous system, and any postponed diseases which caused even if for the short period a brain hypoxia, for example, a viral infection can be the cause of a nervous tic. The second group of diseases which can become the reason of a nervous tic are those diseases at which the movement which became afterwards a tic was initial forced and was fixed reflex. For example, at an adenoid disease the child was forced to swallow often. After removal of almonds of tonsillitis did not arise any more, and the habit to swallow was fixed and became at the child a nervous tic.
• Turett's syndrome. Here the genetic mechanism of transfer of a nervous tic works. In this case the disease often occurs at members of one family, though it is not obligatory in the same form. For example, mother can have a nervous tic of an eye, and the son has a twitching by the head or repetition of the same words.

Types of nervous tics

The movements of one group of muscles can be a nervous tic, and then speak about a local, or limited nervous tic, or the movements in which several groups of muscles are involved, and then it is called a generalized nervous tic.

Also nervous tics can be simple, in this case the movement consists of one element, for example twitching of an eye muscle at a nervous tic of an eye, or difficult, consisting of group coordinated, but uncontrollable movements, such as, jumping.

On the manifestations nervous tics are divided into three big groups:

• Mimic, or front. Preferential mimic muscles are involved in this type of nervous tics. The nervous tic of an eye (speak, an eye "twitches"), frequent blinking, winking, the movements by lips, and other reductions of facial muscles belong to such tics.
• Vocal, or voice. It is group of difficult nervous tics during which the patient says or separate abrupt sounds, like pokhryukivaniye, groans, etc., or words and even phrases. It can be the phrases said by him, or the terminations of phrases repeated after others (echolalia), or even bawling out of curses.
• Nervous tics of extremities. Foot tapping, jumpings, cottons hands, etc. belong to this look.

Symptoms of a nervous tic

Emergence of symptoms of a nervous tic is noticed not at once. The patient, especially if is about a nervous tic at the child, long does not realize this movement, usually people around pay attention to strangenesses in behavior. As it was already written above, the nervous tic can take the various forms, but combines all these movements one – they do not give in to control. Patients can have a presentiment of emergence of an attack of a nervous tic, and even by effort of a will sometimes suppress it, but for a while. Usually nervous tic is shown stronger in a condition of overexcitement or fatigue, but in rare instances on the contrary, can be shown especially strongly during the periods of tranquility and relaxation.

The nervous tic does not lead neither to decrease in intelligence, nor to deterioration in work of a nervous system, but can influence considerably decrease in a psychoemotional condition of the patient, especially if the disease causes special attention, sharp condemnation or sneers from an environment. Children therefore the nervous tic at the child can amplify in noisy places or at big gathering of people are especially sensitive to it.

Diagnosis of a nervous tic

The diagnosis a nervous tic is made by the neurologist, after passing of neurologic and psychiatric inspection. A main objective of inspection at the same time - an exception of diseases with organic lesions of a brain, such as tumors, and mental disorders. The conclusion of the specialist is necessary also because often some forms of nervous tics, especially vocal, take for the dismissed behavior. It causes sharply negative attitude of the people around in turn putting pressure upon the patient why manifestations of a nervous tic are only aggravated.

Treatment of a nervous tic

Usually special treatment of a nervous tic is not required. So, the nervous tic at the child who is called by emotional problems passes at normalization of a psychoemotional situation in a family and an environment. In far come cases the good effect is rendered by psychotherapy during which the available problem is studied and in playful way the child studies to cope with stresses. And, in this case psychotherapeutic consultations are extremely recommended also to the child's parents. As a rule, symptoms of a nervous tic at the child called by the psychological reasons or an unspecified origin, pass by the time of puberty.

For normalization suppressed, overexcited or otherwise the broken emotional background the soft sedative (calming) drugs, medicamentous or a plant origin can be used (tincture of a motherwort, valerian, etc.), but it is not long. Use of strong means for treatment of nervous tics is not recommended as they cause a large amount of the side effects much exceeding medical effect of drug.

Treatment of the nervous tics which are symptoms of other diseases consists in therapy of a basic disease.

At the simple localized nervous tics at adults of persistent character, for example, at a nervous tic of an eye, the drugs of neurotoxic action causing blockade of the nervous impulses going to a motive muscle can be used. Most often Botox injections are for this purpose used.