Tics and Tourette’s in children: searching for the why
Whether your child’s tics are new, building, or part of a Tourette’s diagnosis, here is what ReMed actually offers: a structured search for the why. Over 19 years of paediatric practice we map the triggers families see most (illness, stress, screens, sleep debt), take a detailed immune and infection history, and measure nutritional status through nutritional testing where clinically indicated. All of it works alongside your neurologist, paediatrician or GP, never instead of them, following the same 3-phase method we use for every child, at Bundoora or by telehealth.
Mapping triggers: illness, stress, screens, sleep debt
Most parents already half-know their child’s pattern: the tics that surge with every cold, the throat-clearing that peaks before assembly, the explosion of movement after a long afternoon on a screen, the end-of-term unravelling. We turn that intuition into a chart. Across several weeks you log tic intensity against illness, stressors, screen time and sleep, and the relationships usually surface quickly. The point is not blame (screens are not a moral failing, terms cannot be cancelled) but leverage: once you can see which levers move the dial for your child, you can pull the ones within reach and stop guessing.
What we look at
Alongside the trigger map sits the deeper history: how tics began and evolved, your child’s infection record and how recoveries went, family patterns (tics and related conditions often run in families, which is where careful, non-deterministic genetic context can occasionally help), eating across a real week, magnesium-rich food intake, and sleep in honest numbers. The non-negotiable question is onset speed: tics that appeared abruptly, especially after strep or another infection, belong on the PANS and PANDASpathway, where ReMed’s experience is published and specific.
Testing pathways we commonly use
Recommended only where your child’s story justifies them, and genetic insights are always context, never labels.
Understand, investigate, support
Understand
A 60-minute initial consultation covering your child's full history, not a 10-minute snapshot.
Investigate
Targeted functional testing where clinically indicated, so decisions follow data, not guesswork.
Support
A personalised plan, reviewed and adjusted as your child responds, coordinated with your child's doctors.
Initial consultations run 60 minutes and start from $242: fees and rebates are public, and you can choose your practitioner any time.
What support can include
Depending on the history and any results, support can include sleep repair (the cheapest lever and often the most neglected), steadier nutrition and repletion of measured gaps, evidence-informed herbal and nutritional support selected with any medication in mind, screen-pattern planning that survives real family life, and a flare plan for illness weeks. Plans are reviewed and adjusted as your child responds, and your child’s treating doctors stay in the loop with your consent.
Tics and Tourette's questions, answered straight
Often, yes: transient tics are common in primary-school years and many fade within months. Because the natural course varies so much, no practitioner should promise your child’s tics will resolve, and we never will. What we offer instead is a structured look at the factors families often see influencing tic intensity: illness, stress, screens and sleep debt, plus measured nutritional status, so you are supporting your child with information rather than waiting and worrying.
Tics are sudden, repetitive movements or sounds: blinking, sniffing, throat clearing, shoulder rolls, words or noises. Tourette syndrome is the diagnosis doctors use when both motor and vocal tics have been present for more than a year. Diagnosis belongs with your GP, paediatrician or neurologist, and our work is the same either way: mapping triggers, taking the immune and nutritional history, and supporting the whole child around their medical care.
The big 4 we walk every family through are illness, stress, screens and sleep debt. Parents often notice tics surge with a cold, in the lead-up to school events, after long screen sessions or at the tired end of term. We chart your child’s pattern across several weeks, look for the relationships, and then target the levers you can actually change, with nutritional testing added where the history points to it.
Tell your child’s doctor, and tell us: abrupt, dramatic tic onset around an infection is the hallmark question behind PANS and PANDAS, and it changes how we investigate. ReMed’s founder co-authored peer-reviewed PANS research and presented the keynote on acute-onset OCD and tics in children in Kochi, India in 2018. Our PANS and PANDAS page explains the presentation, and the free flare tracker helps you document what you are seeing.
Yes. Tic disorders sit firmly in medical territory, and our care is built around that: your neurologist or paediatrician leads assessment and any medical treatment, and we never advise changing it. What we add is time and detail: the trigger map, sleep and nutrition work, immune history and functional testing where clinically indicated. With your consent, we share everything we find with your child’s treating team.
Related conditions and free tools
Stop watching and worrying. Start mapping the pattern
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ReMed's care is complementary to, not a replacement for, conventional medical care. We work alongside your GP, paediatrician and specialists, and our support is not a substitute for medical diagnosis or treatment. In an emergency call 000. Every child is different: outcomes vary and no specific result can be guaranteed.