What should I look for in my child with Tourette’s over the holidays?

Pediatric Tourette’s syndrome, also known as habitual spasm syndrome, tic syndrome, and transient tic disorder, is a muscle twitching disorder that occurs in childhood. The incidence rate is high, ranging from 1% to 7%, with reports of 4% to 23%. It is most common in preschool and early school-age children. The ratio of male to female is 3:1~4:1, and most of them are benign, but there are some refractory patients. Need to pay attention to: 1, reasonable arrangement of work and rest time from the tense study period, all of a sudden into the relaxed vacation, excessive play during the day, due to not have to go to school, sleep late at night, and can not get up in the morning, the whole work and rest completely chaotic, often due to fatigue and lead to twitching aggravation. 2, do not watch TV for a long time, play computer games, especially playing computer and cell phone games, due to the tension and stimulation, not only will affect the child’s eyesight, but also can induce tics. This requires parental supervision and guidance. 3, pay attention to diet During the Chinese New Year, we must have prepared a lot of New Year’s goods. As most of the children with Tourette’s syndrome are of a hot constitution, try not to eat hot food that is easy to catch fire as well as stimulating food and easy food. Such as mutton, beef, dog meat; and melon seeds, peanuts, pecans, pistachios and other fried food; chocolate and other sweets can not eat more. Drinks and so on, can not drink functional drinks, as for the general fruit juice can drink a little in moderation. During the Spring Festival, big fish and meat is sure, children should pay attention to meat and vegetables, do not eat too much meat, so as to avoid accumulation of food. 4, avoid the fireworks scare during the New Year, fireworks, firecrackers is our tradition. Tourette’s children are more sensitive, parents pay attention to prevent children from being frightened during this period. It’s best to choose products that are relatively safe and won’t cause fright. Scaring can easily lead to the recurrence and aggravation of tics. Children should also pay attention to their personal safety when playing with fireworks to avoid accidents. 5, safe travel during the Spring Festival, we must have arranged a travel plan. Or visiting friends and relatives, or traveling. When parents take their children to the northern cities, pay attention to the cold to keep warm. So as not to ice, snow, cold stimulation, leading to the aggravation of tic symptoms or recurrence. If you take your child to a hotter area such as Hainan, please try not to take your child to swim to avoid cold water stimulation. 6, prevent cold and flu During the Spring Festival, the temperature may fluctuate. To timely increase or decrease clothing for children to avoid catching a cold. If you are unfortunate enough to catch a cold, you need to actively treat it to control the symptoms as soon as possible, so as not to cause frequent sniffing, throat clearing and other twitching symptoms due to the cold.