A newborn's lower lip is shaking - what to do?

One of the main areas of work of our clinic is child neurology, immunology and psychiatry. We work in constant contact with the parents of our young patients.

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• Obsessive neuroses
• Hyperactive child and restless child. Increased excitability in a child
• Child rolling his eyes: psychological or medical problem?
• Increased anxiety in a child
• Increased fatigue. The child gets tired quickly
• Chin tremor in a newborn: the child's chin trembles
• The child does not sleep well at night, the child grinds his teeth (bruxism): a behavioral feature or a disease?
• Where to start and who to contact?

Obsessive neuroses

In most cases, the problem of obsessive-compulsive neurosis and tics is solved by play psychotherapy or a course of medical treatment, and most often by a combination of drug treatment and psychological work with suppressed nervous tension in the child.

Obsessive neuroses in children manifest themselves in the form of obsessive movements and thoughts. Obsessive states (obsessions) manifest themselves as irresistible and involuntarily arising thoughts, fears, and, as a result, obsessive movements.

Intrusive thoughts

• when a child fears for the health and safety of himself and his family
• constantly thinks or imagines that something bad might happen to them
• always remembers negative events that happened to him or his family in the past

Typical obsessive mental actions

• reading license plates, signs, operations with numbers and letters from license plates and signs
• counting lamp posts, houses, lawn fences, etc.
• constant search for “favorite” and “unfavorite” letters and numbers

Obsessive movements and actions.

The scope of their manifestations is very extensive. This could be a nervous tic in a child, or obsessive movements. The most typical obsessive movements and actions in children:

• biting nails and lips
• hair pulling
• thumb sucking, sucking or biting a pencil, pen, button, edge of clothing
• coughing, grunting, or making noises
• twitching of limbs
• blinking and/or stereotypic eye movements
• circling
• tapping, clapping
• rocking
• squatting, limping when walking
• rubbing the body or objects
• shaking and shaking hands and objects
• jumping and skipping for no reason
• muscle contractions of the arms and legs, as well as the face.

Typical complex ritual actions

• Children can walk on certain floor tiles
• walk around, twist, stroke the object a certain number of times
• jump up and clap your hands, pronounce phrases, etc.

Also, neuroses can have a different course:

• episodic
• chronic
• progressive

Neurosis in a child can have different causes

. The most common is the presence of any mental trauma in the child, as well as the presence of emotional factors. Such as: a tense and conflictual situation in the family, incorrect and too harsh and authoritarian upbringing of children.

Often this list also includes physiological reasons: heredity and genetics, previous diseases, physical overload of the child, lack of sleep.

One way or another, all this is due to the fact that the child has increased arousal in certain areas of the brain. Basically we are talking about dysfunction of the subcortical nuclei of the brain, which are responsible for posture and facial expressions, muscle tone and global motor acts. The child is forced to somehow relieve this excitement. Thus, this discharge occurs precisely through actions.

These may be: tics (the child twitches or jerks with some part of the body), fast stereotypical movements, there may be obsessive postures, obsessive movements; the child may sit down, jump, make some sounds, pronounce words or even swear words (with Tourette syndrome). Very often such manifestations are not taken seriously in the initial stages.

Tourette's syndrome is a genetically determined condition associated with obsessive-compulsive disorder and tics, or stereotypical tic-like movements.

Also, neurosis-like obsessive states are largely provoked by chronic streptococcal infection with an increase in antistreptolysin O (ASLO) in chronic tonsillitis, the so-called PANDAS syndrome, ongoing neuroinflammation with an increase in markers such as NSE and S100 protein. We also often see such manifestations in children who are carriers of neuroinfections, that is, infections that have a toxic effect on the nervous system.

EEG (electroencephalography) for children at the Echinacea clinic

We advise you to contact a child neurologist, child psychiatrist and allergist-immunologist. For convenience and coordination of assistance to the child, we practice a consultation of all three specialists. Thanks to this, the appointments are more informative, and the effect of the prescribed therapy occurs faster.

Obsessive neurosis responds well to treatment in the early stages, especially in preschool age.

As for Tourette's syndrome, even if there is a genetic predisposition, this syndrome can become silent. After all, until the debut of Tourette syndrome, the child lives with the same genetic makeup, but there are no tics or vocalisms. This is not only a matter of genetic predisposition to Tourette's syndrome, but also related problems and the current state of the child's health. Working with provoking factors (obsessive-compulsive disorder, infections, concomitant inflammatory diseases, sleep disturbances, high levels of anxiety, etc.) usually leads to gradual improvement, often until the complete cessation of tics and vocalisms.

We widely practice play therapy for the treatment of obsessive neuroses in children

General concept of ticks

This is the most popular pathology of the children's nervous system at an early age. It is simply impossible not to visually notice the manifestation of a tic, although some parents manage to go for weeks or even months without seeing any oddities in their child’s behavior.

Tics are involuntary, stereotypically repetitive, sudden or jerky movements that are the result of spontaneous contraction of individual muscles or groups of muscles.

At the initial stage of development of the disorder, attacks occur quite rarely, and repetitive movements do not cause much concern or problems. The child can even restrain or control them. However, attempts to control the tic cause him:

• internal discomfort;
• feeling of anxiety;
• mental stress.

When control over oneself weakens, tic manifestations occur, and the baby immediately receives obvious relief.

Nervous tics in children are usually detected between the ages of two and fifteen years. In the period of 6–8 years, tic hyperkinesis most often develops, while at 14–15, in approximately half of the cases it disappears spontaneously.

Fun fact: Boys are five times more likely to have the disorder than girls. From a scientific point of view, this is explained by the more stable psyche of female representatives.

Hyperactive child and restless child. Increased excitability in a child

Symptoms and causes.

A hyperactive child cannot sit for a long time and do work associated with a static body position, often screams loudly and violently expresses emotions, has an attention deficit that does not allow him to concentrate on one thing, and is forced to discharge accumulated tension through physical activity.
That is, in the child’s nervous system, excitation significantly dominates over inhibition. The danger of increased excitability is a decrease in learning ability and, as a result, a child falling behind his peers in development.
It is important to understand the source of increased excitability and restlessness.

Therefore, the first thing we will offer you is to find out the reason for what is happening. There are three main options:

1. This is your child’s normal natural temperament
   and the intervention of a psychiatrist or doctor is not required. The child is mentally healthy and psychologically well-being. In this case, we will give you some recommendations, and you and your child will become noticeably more comfortable.
2. There is some psychological problem
   that increases the child’s level of emotions, anxiety or aggression, for example.
   Emotion requires release (discharge, realization), hence increased excitability and restlessness. The child is mentally healthy and does not need any medical treatment.
   These kinds of psychological problems are quite easily diagnosed during a conversation with the child and parents, and then gently corrected.
3. Increased excitability and restlessness are a consequence of a medical problem.
   We can talk about, for example, increased intracranial pressure, chronic inflammation somewhere (adenoids, tonsils), neuroinflammation, the consequences of birth hypoxia or trauma, childhood neurosis, a latent form of epilepsy. We also encounter more serious problems in our practice, such as autistic disorder and childhood schizophrenia. In this case, it is very important to find the true cause of what is happening, and only then will the treatment work effectively and safely.

Hyperexcitability, restlessness and hyperactivity as character traits

. If we talk about increased excitability and restlessness as characterological characteristics, this is possible if the child is extroverted and temperamental by nature. Or the child may copy this style of behavior from one of the family members. But we can talk about the norm only if this type of hyperactivity does not lead to health problems and if the child is not so excited that he stops sleeping normally, begins to get sick often, or lags behind in general development. Having severe disinhibition and excitability, the child cannot concentrate and master the skills that he is supposed to master by age.

Hyperactivity test

Active attention deficit:

1.Cannot concentrate on one thing, it is difficult to maintain attention;2.May forget what he was assigned or asked for;3.Likes to start a new activity, but cannot finish it;4.Cannot organize clearly his activities and maintain a routine; 5. It is difficult to maintain order, he may lose all his things; 6. Does not like monotonous tasks that require mental effort and attention; 7. May forget what he was assigned or asked for; 6. Doesn't respond immediately when approached.

Motor disinhibition:

1. Often moves restlessly (runs, jumps, climbs somewhere, fidgets in a chair and at the table); 2. Takes a long time to fall asleep and sleeps poorly, may wake up often4. Likes to talk a lot and uncontrollably.

Impulsiveness:

1. Poor control of one’s behavior; 2. Can’t regulate one’s actions and most often does not follow rules; 3. Poorly concentrates attention; 4. Can’t wait for something to finish or reward; 5. No precise line of behavior, strong variability in results and states; 6. May begin to answer without listening to the question; 7. Often interferes in someone else’s conversation and interrupts it; 8. Doesn't know how to wait, can run without waiting for the start.

If you find at least six of the listed signs in a child under the age of 7, we can assume that there is a tendency to hyperactivity. But only a specialist can make an accurate diagnosis. Where to start and who to contact with an overly excitable child?

If we are talking about a hyperactive, excitable and restless child, then it all starts with a detailed identification of the reason for what caused the child’s nervous system to remain in a state of excitement for such a long time. Most often in such cases, we recommend starting with an appointment with a pediatric neurologist and/or a child psychiatrist, and we also suggest getting a joint appointment with these two experts. This makes it easier and faster to determine the cause of increased excitability, to avoid treatment that is unnecessary in many cases, or to select exactly the treatment that your child needs. Based on the results of the initial examination, we can recommend additional laboratory and instrumental studies. We can also save you time and send a laboratory examination form to your email address for your initial appointment; to do this, you can fill out the “ask a doctor a question” form

.

How to prevent lip tremors in a baby

Tremor prevention measures are aimed at maintaining a stress-free pregnancy and caring for the unborn baby.

1. During pregnancy, a woman must understand that she is responsible not only for her own life, but also for the life of her baby. Planning a pregnancy also means giving up bad habits in advance. Be calm, live in harmony with the world around you, find the strength to avoid stress, and periodically listen to calm music.
2. If you are sick with chronic or infectious diseases, then they should be cured, because everything is transmitted to the fetus at birth through the placenta.
3. Visit your doctor regularly and follow all his instructions.

Fortunately, tremor in an infant is rarely a symptom of severe neurological diseases. And it occurs only in 50% of babies. If you follow your doctor's recommendations during pregnancy, you can avoid the appearance of tremors.

The article has been verified by the editors

Child rolling his eyes: psychological or medical problem?

In most cases, the problem with eye rolling in a child has very specific causes (most often they are associated with disruption of the brain, but there may also be psychological reasons).

Symptoms and causes.

Rolling the eyes upward is normal for a newborn baby up to one month of age. Especially before bed, during the borderline state between sleep and wakefulness. But if a child rolls his eyes downward, you should pay attention to this and contact a pediatric neurologist. This phenomenon can occur for many reasons. The most common cause of eye rolling in newborns is increased intracranial pressure. The cause may also be nervous tics and Tourette's syndrome, obsessive-compulsive disorder, i.e. relieving the child's increased nervous tension through some repetitive action.

One of the common tics is associated with rolling the eyes, twitching the eyes, or briefly looking in the same specific direction. Epilepsy can also be manifested by eye rolling. Petite epileptic seizures - absence seizures - are often accompanied by rolling of the eyes and a short-term “freezing”, stopping all higher mental functions of the child. Those. the child stops, falls silent, freezes, rolls his eyes, and after a while he “turns on” and continues to act as if nothing had happened. This is a manifestation of epileptic absence seizures. A minor epileptic seizure can develop into a major one. In this case, the child first rolls his eyes, then twitches one or more muscles, and after this a full-blown convulsive attack occurs - this is a more severe manifestation of epilepsy.

Other options are also possible.

For example, a child may have pain in the eyes, eyeballs with various diseases associated with the nasopharynx and ears (adenoids, inflammation of the sinuses, tonsils, or inflammation of the ears), when pain occurs in the area of ​​the facial skull and soft tissues of the face, pharynx. Who do you turn to when your child rolls their eyes?

In case of such symptoms, it is necessary to show the child to a pediatric neurologist and ophthalmologist, as well as an otolaryngologist if there are any specific problems. But first, we still recommend consulting a pediatric neurologist.

Muscle hypertonicity

Sometimes a baby's shaky chin appears even when he is calm. The cause of this phenomenon may be muscle hypertonicity. This is a limitation of the voluntary motor function of the infant, caused by certain disorders in the development of the brain and peripheral nerve. With hypertonicity, the baby's muscles are overstrained. They remain tense even when the baby is in a relaxed state.

Other signs of hypertonicity are poor quality sleep (the baby sleeps little and poorly), increased irritability, frequent regurgitation after feeding, throwing back the head and unnatural arching of the body.

If you suspect hypertonicity, you can conduct an experiment. You need to take the baby under the armpits and place him on a hard surface, slightly tilting him forward. In this position, babies begin to instinctively move their legs, as when walking. A baby with hypertonicity will stand on his toes, while a healthy baby will stand on his entire foot. This is a classic diagnostic sign of hypertension and dysfunction of the nervous system.

Increased anxiety in a child

The main reason

Anxiety in a child is the constant presence of the nervous system in a protective adaptive reaction to external situations and circumstances that the child for some reason assesses as dangerous (stress reaction). The child may not be aware of them, since he grows up in them from birth, and he is used to them, but subconsciously feels restless and unsafe.

Common symptoms of increased anxiety in a child:

• Anxiety in a child is often manifested by excessive attachment to the mother, since for the child she is the natural source of calm.
• Increased anxiety may be accompanied by excitability and hyperactivity, or, conversely, exhaustion of the nervous system, depression and apathy of the child. The brain cannot maintain anxiety and excitement indefinitely and quickly becomes exhausted.
• Very often, excessive anxiety is accompanied by immune depression (secondary immune deficiency due to stress) and frequent illnesses. For example, a child is highly susceptible to colds, brings all the infections that appear there from kindergarten, and spends a long time at home undergoing treatment.
• An almost obligatory and most common manifestation of increased anxiety is sleep disturbance; the child has trouble falling asleep and often wakes up. Or, at first glance, he sleeps enough and a lot, but does not get enough sleep and gets up in the morning in a bad mood.
• Fears (invents and endows safe things with dangerous properties).

First of all, it is necessary to understand in which area the causes of the problem lie. In psychological or medical

.

1. Increased anxiety as a psychological problem.
2. Anxiety in a child due to medical problems. This could be long-term brain damage during childbirth, hypoxia, asphyxia or birth trauma, after which the brain itself begins to generate anxiety in response to external circumstances. This may be increased intracranial pressure; in more complex situations, the causes may be autistic disorders, childhood psychoses, or even schizophrenia. And in order to help a child as effectively as possible, you need to accurately determine the nature of anxiety.

Treatment

Conservative therapy

Therapeutic tactics are determined by the nature of the underlying pathology, the symptom of which is trembling. Some conditions, such as neonatal tremor, go away on their own and do not require medical intervention; in other situations, specialized care is necessary. Usually the emphasis is on complex drug correction:

• Etiotropic.
  It is possible to eliminate the infectious causes of trembling with antibacterial and antiviral drugs. To reduce the severity of hyperbilirubinemia in newborns, tinmesoporphyrin is used. Elimination of drug-induced parkinsonism is achieved by transferring the patient to atypical antipsychotics.
• Pathogenetic.
  In the treatment of hypoxic-ischemic disorders, vasoactive agents (vinpocetine, pentoxifylline), antihypoxants and antioxidants are used. In case of hydrocephalus, diuretics (furosemide, mannitol) can be used to reduce the production and improve the outflow of cerebrospinal fluid; for intracranial hemorrhages, hemostatic therapy is indicated.
• Symptomatic.
  Treatment of parkinsonian tremor is carried out with levodopa, dopamine receptor agonists (pramipexole). Neuroleptic tremors are treated with amantadine and anticholinergics (trihexyphenidyl). In cases of severe familial tremor, beta blockers (atenolol, sotalol) are used; in resistant cases, botulinum toxin injections are used.

The traditional method of treating kernicterus is phototherapy, if it is ineffective, exchange blood transfusion is practiced. The consequences of perinatal damage to the nervous system and cerebral palsy require complex neurorehabilitation - with physiotherapy (myostimulation, electrophoresis, reflexology), massage, exercise therapy. Special devices (orthoses) are used, and children are recommended to work with a speech therapist or psychologist.

Increased fatigue. The child gets tired quickly

In most cases, increased fatigue and exhaustion of the child’s nervous system has very specific causes and is quite easy to correct or treat.

It is very important to understand and find the reasons why fatigue occurs. Treatment must precisely target the cause of the problem. Unfortunately, we often see the opposite examples. For example, a child gets tired due to a chronic infection, and he is taken to a psychologist and “behavior is corrected,” or, for example, the cause of fatigue is related to hormonal levels, and he is sent to a psychiatrist and prescribed medications that are unnecessary in this case. The opposite situation is possible: the child does not have any special health problems, but only psychological problems that lead to fatigue. It is necessary to clearly understand the reason for what is happening, and only then the treatment will bring the desired result.

A child's abrupt switching from active and dynamic games to complete loss of strength, in which the child can fall asleep in one minute, is the norm for children from two to five years old.

At this age it will be absolutely normal fatigue followed by a transition to activity.

Increased fatigue should alert you if:

1. The child is so tired that he cannot concentrate, lags behind his peers in learning and mastering new skills;
2. The child cannot sleep or wakes up at night, feels drowsy during the day;
3. In the morning the child wakes up tired, has difficulty turning on, refuses breakfast;
4. The child often suffers from colds;
5. You notice a prolonged (more than 2 weeks) general lethargy in the child, dark circles under the eyes and pallor, a decline in mood;
6. The child is in a negative mood most of the time, gets offended and cries for no objective reason;
7. Drowsiness, apathy and indifference to previously favorite activities appear;
8. The child complains of headache or dizziness;
9. The child loses motor dexterity, shows aggression, and often changes positions when reading or doing homework;
10. The child complains of fatigue and/or pain in the legs.

Increased fatigue is mainly due to the fact that the child's nervous system cannot maintain arousal long enough to support everyday tasks, including learning, mastering skills, speech, and so on.

A tired child finds it difficult to maintain attention on one thing, it begins to dissipate, as a result of which the child resists learning, which turns out to be too difficult for him. The situation develops into conflicts, and the reason for this is increased fatigue.

1. Exhaustion of the child’s nervous system due to prolonged stress,
   i.e. “getting stuck” of the body in a state of preparation for responding to danger. The stress response is designed by nature to be short-term; it comes to quick realization and a way out of stress. But if suddenly the stress readiness in the child’s body becomes long-term, the nervous system is gradually depleted. Thus, brain exhaustion occurs and, as a result, rapid fatigue.
2. Sleep disturbance .
   Normal healthy sleep consists of four stages, of which the deepest and most important are the 3rd and 4th. With a deficiency of deep stages of sleep, nervous exhaustion occurs quite quickly. Frequent variants of sleep deprivation in children: the child has a normal sleep duration, but sleeps superficially, the child sleeps with awakenings, the child has shortened sleep (falls asleep for a long time or wakes up too early). Some sleep problems can be clarified by performing overnight EEG monitoring.
3. The presence of increased intracranial pressure
   , when the brain is pressured by an excessive amount of cerebrospinal fluid and cannot remain in a state of excitement for a long time.
4. Chronic diseases,
   and very often these are metabolic disorders, infections (adenoids, chronic tonsillitis), decreased thyroid function or other endocrine imbalance. Chronic infections can be associated with the herpes virus, streptococci, which very often cause such chronic fatigue. In this case, we will suggest that you put the child’s immunity in order, treat infections, and then the health of the child’s nervous system will be restored.

Types of nervous tics in children

Each child has his own individuality, and therefore nervous tics that arise for one reason or another are different.

Tic manifestations generally have two types:

1. Motor (motor). They are detected by spasms of individual muscles, their groups or movement of limbs and other parts of the body.
2. Voice (vocal). They can be recognized in the form of frequently repeated individual sounds, syllables, exclamations, words and even phrases.

Both groups are divided into simple and complex tics. Everything is clear here. A simple form - one short movement or sound, a complex one - several muscle groups are involved, if there are vocal disorders, progress is also observed in them.

Chin tremor in a newborn: the child's chin trembles

In most cases, these symptoms disappear completely with timely diagnosis and treatment, especially if treatment is started in the first six months of the child’s life.

When a newborn baby's chin trembles, this almost always indicates increased stimulation of the nervous system. If the chin trembles frequently or constantly, it means that excitation in the child’s central nervous system significantly dominates inhibition. And this, in turn, may indicate a history of brain damage: intrauterine infection, intrauterine and/or birth hypoxia, birth trauma, increased intracranial pressure, etc. In this case, the child’s chin shakes while crying or spontaneously. Other neurological symptoms may also appear. An increase in muscle tone is often observed; the baby does not form the correct reflexes inherent in newborns: proboscis reflex, palmar-mental, palmo-oral, support reflexes. There may also be other neurological signs indicating that the nervous system has been damaged in some way. In more serious cases, early development may be impaired.

Where to start and who to contact? If a child often experiences chin trembling, first of all, he should get an in-person consultation with a pediatric neurologist. The doctor will examine the baby and, if necessary, prescribe an ultrasound of the brain and ultrasound of the cerebral vessels to look at the situation with intracranial pressure and cerebral circulation. If epilepsy is suspected, encephalography (EEG) is advisable. As a rule, the most relevant age for research and determination of the causes of this problem is up to six months, since most of the consequences of intrauterine and birth damage to the nervous system are well restored during the first 6-12 months of life (the so-called “therapeutic window”). It is at this moment that every effort should be made to ensure that the damaged functions are fully restored and continue their development as normal.

Complications and consequences of tremor

Physiological tremor does not pose any danger to the health of an infant. After 3-4 months after birth, trembling of the chin and lower lip disappears and no longer bothers either the child or his parents.

As for pathological tremor, here things are much more complicated. Prolonged and frequently recurring tremor is the first alarm bell indicating neuropathy. Involuntary contraction of the muscles of the chin, lips, upper and lower extremities, and head may indicate the presence of perinatal encephalopathy in the baby.

This pathology may include various disorders of the central nervous system that arise as a result of intrauterine development. If you consult a doctor in a timely manner, the disease can still be treated.

If the tremor of the lips and chin is not caused by neurology, then it is necessary to undergo a set of examinations to determine whether there is a deficiency of Ca and Mg in the baby’s body, and diabetes mellitus.

The child does not sleep well at night, the child grinds his teeth (bruxism): a behavioral feature or a disease?

Getting a full night and daytime sleep every day is a very important condition for the development of mental functions of a preschool child. If your child begins to have trouble falling asleep and wakes up frequently, you should take this as carefully as possible. We are engaged in restoring normal sleep in children. Correction or treatment depends on the causes of sleep difficulties and is determined during a consultation or after a scheduled examination, if necessary.

How long should a child sleep?

Sleeping mode

. A child's normal sleep should proceed without interruption, without episodes of agitation associated with screaming or crying during sleep. The normal duration of falling asleep is about half an hour; if it lasts more than 30 minutes, you should pay attention to this and find out the reason. It is normal for a child to wake up early on weekends according to the routine adopted on weekdays. It is desirable that the biorhythm of the child’s life coincides with the biorhythm of the geographical time zone in which he lives. It is provided in nature that when it is dark outside, a person sleeps, and at dawn he wakes up, the same rhythm corresponds to the children's regime. For a preschooler, lights out should be no later than 10 p.m. It is not always possible for schoolchildren to maintain such a regime, because the load received at school increases disproportionately to the physiological capabilities of the children. But still, for the harmonious growth and development of a child, it is necessary to strive to adhere to the regime and have at least 8-9 hours of sleep. For a child under 10 years old, a sleep duration of 9-10 hours is absolutely normal and healthy.

Many children approaching school age refuse to sleep during the day; this is not always a violation of their sleep patterns; for some children, with a full night's sleep, the need for daytime sleep disappears. Provided that the lack of daytime sleep does not entail a change in the child’s well-being for the worse. One more aspect must be taken into account that for children under 4 years of age, daytime sleep is vital, since during this period of life the neural structure of the brain is actively being built and good sleep contributes to the most efficient functioning of the brain in the future.

Sleep consists of several stages (divided into phases). Complete rest, restoration of the nervous system, active metabolism and immunity occur mainly in the third and fourth phases of sleep. These phases are achieved only in night sleep, subject to timely falling asleep, sufficient duration and depth of sleep, and the absence of night awakenings.

A situation where a child does not sleep at night or
has difficulty falling asleep for a long time, often gets up, asks for something to drink or eat, or invents different activities for himself just to stay awake, can arise for many reasons.
Main reasons :

• increased intracranial pressure (ICP);
• increased level of anxiety;
• a stressful situation or excessive nervous tension in response to something;
• neurosis;
• excessive workload of the child at school;
• increased convulsive readiness of the cerebral cortex (recorded on the EEG);
• pain in the abdomen or other area of ​​the body, itching, worms.

Behavioral factor.

It arises due to the attention deficit of adults who work all day and come home late, without devoting enough time to their child. As a result, the child falls asleep for a long time, because he wants to make up for the lack of communication with his parents and feel their physical and emotional presence next to him.

High level of anxiety in a child.

When a child cannot fall asleep, but having difficulty falling asleep, he often wakes up or sleeps shallowly, as the stress mechanisms of the nervous system continue to work, including defensive reactions and not allowing the child to fall asleep deeply.

The child screams in his sleep, walks, talks in his sleep.

Sleepwalking (somnambulism) is a state of incomplete awakening. At the time when the child should enter the deep stage of sleep, the process of brain inhibition occurs, but the process does not affect all areas of the brain, i.e. part of the brain remains awake or wakes up in the middle of the night. As a result, the child can sit up in bed, stand up, walk, scream, express emotions and even talk without waking up. Sleepwalking in children is usually quite treatable.

The child grinds his teeth in his sleep

. The main age when bruxism occurs is the period from 3 to 6 years. The peak of manifestation occurs at the age of five, when molars begin to erupt. The cause of teeth grinding can be difficulty breathing due to adenoids, ear or toothache and nasal congestion, abdominal pain and, in general, any physical discomfort.

Lack of adequate sleep can lead to serious problems for a child’s body. Such as a disorder of the nervous system, weakening of the immune system, disruption of the body’s usual mode of operation of all internal organs. It is necessary to treat your child's sleep as carefully as possible. Restoring normal night sleep in a child is, as a rule, a completely doable task.

treating a child who is not sleeping well first.

:

1. Consultation with a pediatric neurologist. Typically, during the consultation, the cause of the sleep disorder will be clarified and treatment can be selected.
2. If there are suspicions about chronic night pain anywhere, skin itching, nasal breathing problems, we will offer help from a doctor of the appropriate profile.

Diagnostics

Tremor as a visual symptom is easy to identify during the initial examination. It is much more important to establish the cause of rhythmic chin tremor, since this affects the therapeutic strategy and prognosis. A neurologist can cope with this task using additional diagnostic methods. Taking into account the clinical situation, the following procedures may be prescribed:

• Lab tests.
  Assuming the presence of an infectious factor, in the hemogram they pay attention to the leukocyte formula, ESR, perform serological tests, and PCR. The key role is played by the analysis of cerebrospinal fluid (clinical, biochemical, microbiological). Important biochemical blood parameters are bilirubin and glucose. A coagulogram is required.
• Tomographic methods.
  It is possible to confirm organic pathology of the central nervous system using CT and MRI of the brain. Computed tomography has an advantage in diagnosing TBI, hydrocephalus, and hematomas. Ischemic foci, diffuse processes, damage to the membranes and nerves are better visualized on MRI. The state of the dopaminergic system can be studied with single-photon emission tomography.
• Neurosonography.
  In pediatric practice, ultrasound scanning of the brain through the large fontanel is highly informative. Ultrasound scanning determines the expansion of the ventricular system, changes in the density of brain tissue, and the presence of pathological formations. Dopplerography examines blood flow in the arteries of the carotid and vertebrobasilar areas.
• Electroencephalography.
  Trembling hyperkinesis in children, simulating epileptic seizures, is an indication for an EEG. A study of the electrical activity of brain structures reveals foci of pathological impulses and helps predict the neuropsychic development of newborns.
• Electromyography.
  Electrophysiological parameters of tremor (frequency, amplitude, type) are determined by EMG. By the nature of the central oscillations, essential tremor can be differentiated from parkinsonian tremor. The technique is also useful for assessing neuromuscular conduction.

In many cases, an examination of the fundus is necessary; echo and rheoencephalography provide some information. When carrying out differential diagnosis, physiological conditions and dangerous pathologies requiring immediate help are first excluded. Tremor in children should be distinguished from convulsive seizures, absence seizures, myoclonus; at older ages, motor stereotypies must be taken into account.

Prevention Tips

To prevent a child’s nervous tics from developing into more serious mental disorders over time, all possible measures must be taken to prevent them. You don't need anything supernatural to do this. It will be enough not to forget that the baby sees the behavior of the parents and people around him, draws his own conclusions and evaluates the events taking place due to his level of development.

The psyche of a child at an early age is unstable and vulnerable, so any clarification of the relationship between parents in a raised voice is a stressful situation that can lead to tic manifestations. It is in the family that the child should feel support and understanding. This is his fortress, in which, if necessary, he can hide from all his fears. If there is no such relationship, then the risk of developing tics is quite high.

Children living in a calm, friendly environment are very rarely susceptible to nervous tics. To avoid having to treat the consequences of mental imbalance in a child, it is enough to create comfortable conditions for him. They are as follows:

• avoidance of anxiety and stressful situations;
• healthy, full sleep;
• high-quality and healthy food, a ban on fast food and overly sweet and fried foods;
• compliance with the daily routine, proper organization of rest;
• dosed computer use and TV viewing;
• maximum exposure to fresh air;
• classes in sports sections that match the interests and temperament of the child;
• inadmissibility of overwork.

In rare cases, raising the younger generation does not involve punishment. They are certainly necessary, but within reason. Physical impact is immediately excluded. Only moral methods of influence are acceptable. The child must clearly know what offense he is being punished for and how he should have done the right thing. At the same time, you should assure the child that punishment does not affect his love for him. Only in such a situation will he draw the right conclusions and receive minimal nervous shock.

Even if the appearance of nervous tics in a child could not be avoided, it should be remembered that this is not the worst thing that could happen to him. Modern medicine, combined with parental care and attention, can work wonders.

Main manifestations

Localization of tic movements most often occurs in the facial or neck muscles. Over time, they can spread from top to bottom. The most common examples of simple childhood motor tics are:

• frowning;
• blinking;
• squinting;
• moving the wings of the nose;
• drawing in air through the nose;
• twitching of the corner of the mouth;
• turning or tilting the head;
• shrug;
• flinching;
• twitching of limbs;
• flexion or extension of fingers;
• snapping fingers.

Vocal tics are manifested by coughing, throat sounds, sniffling, spoken syllables or exclamations. This is a meaningless sound that interferes with speech and gives the impression of stuttering or stuttering. If no measures are taken to eliminate them, the situation will only get worse. Tic movements also progress and reach a new level in the form of:

• grimace;
• head tossing;
• touching various parts of the body with hands;
• contractions of the abdominal muscles or diaphragm;
• squats;
• bouncing.

All of the above nervous tics in children are not all manifestations of the disease. They can be individual and atypical. It all depends on the child’s level of development, his character and temperament, sensitivity to environmental stimuli and a number of other reasons.