ugh. I wrote a really long post and lost the whole thing by leaning on my keyboard. Silly me.
I'll try again...
Hi,
I think it's always good to get a medical check-up if you have any concerns about your child. There are other conditions where tics are a symptom and they can be ruled out. Most times that can be done by just talking with you and taking a history.
The Tourette Syndrome Association of the USA (if that is where you live) has a referral set-up if that is of any help to you. You can email them
ts@tsa-usa.org or phone them and they'll send you info. about doctors and allied health professionals in your particular area who are knowledgeable about Tourette Syndrome. The details for all that are on the TSA-USA website in the section titled "For Parents"
Having said that, it's good to remember that tic disorders run on a spectrum. There are transient tics of childhood, chronic motor tics, chronic vocal/phonic tics as well as tourette syndrome. It's not uncommon for a child to have a tic or tics during rapid development stages. Often those will totally disappear. If not, and your child is diagnosed in the future with TS then the best thing you can do is learn as much as you can.
What can be done about the tics.... well, that depends.
Usually treatments such as medication etc., are not necessary if tics are mild and do not cause distress or pain or interfere in a child's daily life. The best thing in that situation is education. Education for the child so that they know in age appropriate terms so that they are not afraid of what is happening to them. This is really important I feel.
Education is also important for the people who have contact with your child. People and peers at school or sport or kindy or family. It's also helpful, because the kindy or school teachers can also alert you to any other difficulties that your son may be experiencing when he's not in his home environment. Education also goes a long way in helping stop the teasing and the bullying and you have experienced that yourself sadly.
Allergies. People who already have an underlying tic disorder, sometimes find that certain allergies can trigger specific tics. e.g. sniffing tics or throat clearing tics. Same with eye blinking which is actually a very common tic.
Sorting out any triggers can be helpful... whether they're seasonal allergies or food allergies, even things like pool chemicals etc. Having said that, the very nature of Tourette Syndrome is that the symptoms/tics tend to wax and wane, so sometimes it's difficult to figure out if something is actually triggering a specific tic or set of tics or whether it's typical waxing and waning.
Stress. Stress doesn't cause tics. Again, in people who already have an underlying tic disorder, then it is possible for tics to be exacerbated during stressful times or events
Sorry to be so long-winded. Probably was a good thing that my first post got lost. It was about 3 times as long. LOL
Keep us posted!