Tics

My 4-year-old grandson has just developed a tic. He blinks his eyes a lot. His mother, my daughter-in-law, also has this same tic, so I am wondering if this is genetic? I’d like to learn more about tics in general and what if anything can be done about them. While we have noticed this tic, we have not commented on it to him as we don’t want to call attention to it as assume it is not under his control. Is the right approach?

I read recently that this could be caused by a magnesium deficiency and wonder if you agree with this statement?

Transient tics involving the facial muscles and eye blinking occur in one quarter of children. You have done absolutely the right thing in not drawing his attention to them. Stress usually makes them worse and as he cannot control them, commenting on them will only make them worse too. In fact constantly mentioning them can make them permanent – did this happen to his mother? They usually only last for a few months.

No treatment is effective or needed. They are much commoner in boys than girls.

Tics do occur in some illnesses but if he is otherwise well and does not exhibit any other strange behaviours, looking for these is not warranted.

The fact that his mother has tics also does not necessarily mean that the tics are genetic. Often symptoms that do not appear to have a cause run in families e.g. if mum has a headache when stressed often her children will have headaches with stress.

As regards magnesium deficiency, this can cause epileptic fits and other muscle jerks. However, magnesium deficiency is very rare – I have only seen it in 2 children who had very serious underlying diseases