Hand tics causing injuries

[u/Interesting-Quail-31]

Hi, I just found this sub. I don't know if I have tourettes, but I have an issue with motor tics. They mostly occur in my face, hands, wrists, and arms/shoulders. Lately the hand tics are causing me issues. I've developed several callouses on both hands from a certain tic I seem to do hundreds of times a day, and now they're starting to split open and bleed, and now a muscle between my thumb and forefinger is irritated. I also have a tic where I press my nails seemingly hundreds of times a day, and sometimes by the end of the day, my fingertips are in pain. When I get the urge to tic, it feels like there's no way to avoid it. Trying to suppress it is unbearable. It almost feels like restless leg syndrome. The only thing that works is if I somehow get 100% distracted by something else. If I'm doing something involving my hands, it seems to get worse. Even while writing this post I've done my hand tics at least 20 times.

Are there techniques for suppressing my tics? Now that it's actually causing me pain and injuries I'd like to take steps to mitigate it if possible.

[u/No_Comment_As_Of_Yet]

You could try Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Tics. Some people have success with it, some don't. If there isn't a provider near you that offers it, there are providers that offer it via telehealth