Tics and Tourette Syndrome

Tics reflect an imbalance in movement and inhibition circuits. We look at triggers that amplify them, from stress and sleep to inflammation and nutrient status.

What you may be noticing

Eye blinking or squeezing, shoulder shrugging, facial grimacing, cheek chewing, throat clearing, sniffing, or sounds that come in waves. Tics often grow with excitement, stress, fatigue, screen time, or even cold, and ease during focused activities. Your child may feel an urge just before a tic and relief afterward. Many children also have ADHD, anxiety, or OCD traits.

A new tic is common in childhood and often passes. A sudden explosion of tics together with OCD, anxiety, or behavior changes after an infection deserves a medical evaluation.

Why it is rarely one thing

Tics are not bad habits, and they are not deliberate. They arise from circuits connecting the basal ganglia, the frontal cortex, and the thalamus, which normally filter and inhibit unwanted movements. When inhibition is weaker or the motor system is more excitable, movements slip through the filter. I think of it as overflow: a system carrying more signal than it can smoothly organize.

Genetics contribute strongly. Yet tic intensity rises and falls with the state of the nervous system. In my practice, a new tic is a signal worth reading, often of neuroinflammation or dysregulation. Stress, poor sleep, illness, blood sugar swings, food reactivity, histamine load, lead, mold, and sensory overload can all make the filter leakier. The question is not only why tics appear, but what is turning them up right now.

Patterns we look for

• Frontal inhibition and basal ganglia function.
• Retained primitive reflexes, eye movement findings, and sensory processing.
• Infection history and sudden onset patterns.
• Environmental sources: lead and mold history.
• Food reactivity and histamine or mast cell load.
• Gut microbiome balance and inflammation.
• Magnesium, zinc, iron and ferritin, vitamin D, and B vitamin status.
• Sleep quality, stress load, autonomic balance, and response to cold.
• Co-occurring ADHD, anxiety, and OCD patterns.

How I evaluate it

The comprehensive functional neurological exam, adapted for children and begun through play, looks at eye movements, including antisaccades, which test inhibition, along with coordination, balance, timing, primitive reflexes, and sensory responses. A tic diary helps reveal patterns and triggers.

Functional labs may include ferritin, magnesium, zinc, vitamin D, a thyroid panel, inflammatory markers, blood lead, and infection testing when onset was sudden. Mold and food reactivity testing are considered when the history points there.

How we address it

1. Address the source first: lead, mold, and food reactivity, with gentle support rather than aggressive protocols.
2. Reduce tic amplifiers: sleep debt, stress, caffeine, and overstimulation.
3. Calm the nervous system with slow breathing and vagal games, and, when cold makes tics louder, warmth to the neck, hands, and core as part of the routine.
4. Rebalance nutrients that calm motor excitability, support gut balance, and reduce inflammation.
5. Strengthen inhibition with brain-based rehabilitation: slow eye tracking, primitive reflex integration, timing and rhythm work, and calm deep-pressure input, done when your child is settled rather than during a strong episode.
6. Support behavioral therapy for tics, which has good evidence, and coordinate with your pediatrician or neurologist.

Children with tics are often bright, sensitive, and deeply aware of how others see them. We never ask a child to simply stop a tic. Lowering the attention on tics at home, while quietly addressing what drives them, helps the whole family relax. The aim is to lower the noise in the system so the brain no longer needs to release it through movement.

When the nervous system feels calmer and more organized, the tics often grow quieter.

Book your Comprehensive Functional Medicine Eval/Neurological Exam today to discover what the contributing root causes are that are underlying your health concerns.