Self-Hypnosis - An Effective Treatment For Facial Tics

Facial tics are characterized by rapid, apparently unintentional muscle contractions of entire muscle groups in the face. These contractions are habitually repetitive in nature, and appear to have no actual point. Common tics are overstated eye blinking, squinting, nose wrinkling, facial grimacing or even vocalizations such as grunting or throat clearing. Tics often show themselves during childhood, and often 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 anxiety or discomfort. People who suffer from tics tell us that they are able to sense a tic as it approaches. It's often described as an overwhelming feeling of tension and the desire to perform the tic to break the tension; somewhat akin to the approaching urge to yawn or sneeze which relieves the person. Controlling a tic can trigger anxiety, which can lead to the onset of another tic. Tics are often described as being involuntary but research and reports from victims indicates they are indeed voluntary motions that can be controlled by the victim.

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

Especially children, can have a difficult time living with a tic because of mocking from other kids, or teachers who don't fully recognize the tricky 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 starting tic as well as an adult.

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

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

Over the years, many treatments for tics have been applied with varying degrees of success. Psychotherapy or counseling can help reveal the emotional causes of a tic, and may help an individual better understand how to fight the urge to perform their tic. Mild sedatives and other forms of medication are sometimes successful in cases of simple tics. These meds often come saddled with negative side effects, so many people look for alternative treatments.

Hypnotherapy and NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) methods have been created specifically for the purpose of overcoming 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 prevent the tic's onset. In some extreme cases, however, the sufferer'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 awkward life-affecting problem. Children and adults alike can suffer a lot from the existence of a facial tic such as eye blinking, squinting, mouth twitches, facial grimaces, nose wrinkling, or grunting. Eliminating a facial tic can prove very useful to the victim on an emotional level.

Although several 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 treatment has great benefit over other methods such as psychotherapy, which may not help the tic behavior at all, or attempt to change 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 stress and worry in the sufferer's life, thereby both reducing the impulse to form a tic and proving an advantage in everyday life. Due to these factors, NLP and self-hypnosis are often the safest, most preferred methods of treatment for tic sufferers.

Facial tics are sudden, apparently involuntary muscle contractions of entire muscle groups in the face and neck region. Tics are often described as being involuntary but research and reports from sufferers indicates they are indeed voluntary motions that can be controlled by the sufferer.

Alan B. Densky, CH offers facial ticks hypnotherapy CD's as well as a large array of popular titles for all anxiety related problems. For delight and instruction visit his Free hypnotherapy video library at his Neuro-VISION self-hypnosis website.

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