Verbal and Facial Tics

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor. These solutions are merely things that myself and others have found helpful. They are not designed to replace any medications, treatments or therapies recommended by your healthcare team. Please consult your doctor if you are concerned about your symptoms and call an ambulance if you are in any type of medical emergency.

Verbal and facial tics are caused by the brain misfiring a message to the mouth or face telling it that it needs to be moving. We have a huge number of muscles and nerves in our faces, and the area of the brain that controls these muscles and nerves is much larger than the areas that control other body parts. In terms of controlling muscles and nerves, the face, hands, and feet, occupy more area of the brain than any others. This is because we require these parts of our bodies to do so many things. It is also why, when we have FND, these are the areas that are often most affected by misfiring neural pathways and nerves.

If you, like me, experience verbal and facial tics, you already know that it's impossible to just stop tics, by simply deciding not to do them. In fact, it can make them worse. We need to disrupt this misfiring neural pathway. The more that this neural pathway fires, the stronger it becomes, making it harder to ‘unlearn’. Distraction is a simple and non-invasive way to disrupt this neural pathway. Chewing gum or sucking on a lollipop or trying to laugh can be an easy and cheap way to get immediate relief from verbal and facial tics.

I used to tic everytime I spoke or was trying to do something It was extremely frustrating to not be able to communicate clearly and concisely. I sounded like i was whooping from a movie meep about whoop, wow , mmmh" All day long,

So I its easy to put stuff everywhere so you can get them like, in a bag, in the car, on every table and counter in our house. Whenever I needed to speak to someone, or make a phone call, I’d have a something near on hand to allow me to speak or do stuff . This doesn't make them go away or fix it always but it definitely helps.

Now, that’s a lot of sugar. That’s not so healthy. However, every time you disrupt this neural pathway, you are preventing it from becoming stronger. It’s essentially correcting a behaviour or bad habit, but it is one that you are not consciously choosing to make. The less often the behaviour is allowed to occur, the less of a ‘habit’ it becomes. I still have verbal and facial tics but not so bad every day. And certainly not every time I speak. They tend to occur when I’m tired or stressed, or if I’m talking (or writing) about them and sometimes still out if know where but there some trigger I still haven't found.

This misfiring neural pathway is no longer a strong one. Even as I type this im only ticing some. So, for me, I thought this was worth sharing what my OT has taught me an what others have as well . Note this does not cure or fix them it just simply helps. :) 🧠