Hello and welcome to the Zero to Finals podcast. My name is Tom and in this episode

I'm going to be talking to you about Tourette's and Ticks. And if you want to follow along with

written notes on this topic, you can follow along at zero definals.com slash Tourette's

or in the CAM section of the Zero to Finals Pediatrics book. So let's get straight into it.

Tourette's syndrome is characterized by the development of ticks that are persistent for over a year.

Ticks are involuntary movements or sounds that the child performs repetitively throughout the day.

These ticks become more prominent when the child is under pressure or they're excited.

They may describe an overwhelming urge to perform the tick,

and this urge increases the more they suppress it.

They feel that they need to complete the tick

often several times in order to get relief from that urge.

These urges that need to be relieved are called pre-monitory sensations.

Ticks often present around or after five years of age.

They can be associated also with OCD and ADHD.

Let's talk about some examples of simple ticks,

and these can be clearing the throat,

blinking, head jerking, sniffing, grunting or eye-rolling.

Examples of complex ticks are performing movements such as twirling on the spot or touching objects.

Copropraxia, which involves making obscene gestures.

Coprolalia, which involves saying obscene words, and echolalia,

which involves repeating other people's words.

Let's talk about management. Usually ticks will improve with time. Mild cases with no signs

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