Hypnosis - Effective Treatment For Facial Tics

Facial tics are characterized by sudden, apparently unintentional muscle contractions of muscle groups in the face. These contractions are often recurring in nature, and appear to have no real point. Most tics are overstated eye blinking, squinting, nose wrinkling, facial grimacing or even vocalizations such as throat clearing or grunting. Tics often show up during childhood, and usually resolve as the child ages. This is not always the situation, though, and many people continue to exhibit tics as they enter adulthood.

Tics often increase in frequency as an individual feels tension or discomfort. People who suffer from tics tell us that they are able to feel a tic approach. It's often described as an overwhelming feeling of tension and the compulsion to perform the tic to eliminate the tension; somewhat akin to the approaching urge to yawn or sneeze which relieves the sufferer. Trying to control a tic can cause tension, which can lead to the beginning of another tic. Tics are often described as being automatic but research and reports from sufferers indicates they are indeed voluntary motions that can be controlled by the sufferer.

A tic can be seen as a simple tic, as in grunting, mouth twitches or facial grimaces or it can be more complex such as is seen a lot in Tourette syndrome. Simple tics are more commonly seen than complex tics, but can be just as devastating to the sufferer; while a facial tic does not cause physical pain to the sufferer, it often causes mental distress or social problems.

Especially children, can have a hard time dealing with a tic because of mocking from other children, or teachers that don't fully appreciate the difficult situation the child is in. While tics are often described as not being totally involuntary, control of a tic is difficult to establish, especially in children. Children often do not establish the skills to identify a tic onset as well as an adult.

Adults can also face critical difficulty in their lives when dealing with a facial tic. Social problems are quite common, and even when tics are generally controlled the adult can become very tired by the frequent need to identify the onset of and control the tic impulse. Adults and children alike may suffer from self-esteem or self-worth issues due to their constant suffering from a disease that often causes them to become social outcasts.

Relieving a person of the anxiety of a facial tic can be a life-changing experience. Self-confidence usually improves, and social anxiety is no longer a power holding a person back from experiencing a meaningful life. In children, relieving a tic may permit the child to develop with less tension while he/she has a happier childhood.

Over the years, many treatments for tics have been applied with varying degrees of achievement. Psychotherapy or counseling can help uncover the emotional causes of a tic, and may help someone better understand how to resist the urge to perform their tic. Sedatives and other forms of medication are sometimes successful in cases of simple tics. These meds often come saddled with unwanted side effects, so many people look for alternative treatments.

Self-hypnosis and NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) methods have been created expressly for the purpose of dealing with facial tics. Since facial tics are not firmly unconscious in nature, these treatments aim to change the sufferer's unconscious response to the onset of a tic episode such as facial grimacing or throat clearing. In many cases this can be done by allowing the unconscious mind to stop the onset of the tic. In some extreme cases, however, the victim's response will be redirected to some innocuous portion of the body such as twitching a toe instead of facial muscles.

Facial tics can be an uncomfortable life-affecting woe. Children and adults alike can suffer greatly from the occurrence of a facial tic such as grunting, nose wrinkling, facial grimaces, mouth twitches, squinting or eye blinking. Eliminating a facial tic can prove very valuable to the sufferer on an emotional level.

Although many treatments have been created to fight against facial tics, NLP and self-hypnosis aim to utilize natural unconscious methods of redirecting the tic response. This type of therapy has great benefit over other methods such as psychotherapy, which may not help the tic behavior at all, or attempt to modify the conscious response to tic behavior.

NLP and self-hypnosis also do not experience the unwanted side effects of drugs. This beneficial method of treatment can also diminish tension and anxiety in the victim's life, thereby both reducing the impulse to form a tic and proving a benefit in everyday life. Due to these factors, NLP and self-hypnosis are often the safest, most preferred methods of treatment for tic sufferers.

About The Author:
Alan B. Densky, CH offers facial ticks hypnosis programs as well as a wide array of popular titles for all anxiety related problems. For enjoyment and learning visit his Free video hypnosis library at his Neuro-VISION hypnosis website.