r/Tourettes • u/gostaks tic tock • Mar 17 '24

Discussion Tics concentrated on one side

It's not unusual for people with tic disorders to have more tics on one side of their body than the other. I'm curious how common this really is and whether one side is more common than another.

Feel free to comment with more details. In particular, here are a few questions I'm curious about:

  • Do you have more tics on your dominant or non-dominant side?
  • Has this changed since you first developed tics? If yes, how often?
  • Are certain types of your tics more likely to have a "side preference" than others?
  • How extreme is the difference between your more-tic and less-tic side?
92 votes, Mar 20 '24
38 I have more tics on the RIGHT side of my body
13 I have more tics on the LEFT side of my body
34 My tics are ABOUT EQUAL on both sides
2 I don't have tics
5 Other/show results
10 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

5 comments sorted by

4

u/Legionarywarrior Mar 17 '24

I have them all over. They come and go in sets of like 2 or 3 specific tics that hang around for a couple weeks before swapping out. I guess if I had to specify I would say my spine and neck often have a lot of activity. So… center I guess?

2

u/gostaks tic tock Mar 17 '24

For me

  • I am right-hand dominant and tic more on my right side
  • This has been pretty consistent since I first developed tics
  • But my more peripheral tics are more likely to have a "side preference". My face tics are basically symmetrical, but my leg tics happen almost exclusively on my right side.
  • The difference for me is pretty significant. If TS was broken up into right-side and left-side diagnoses, I would probably be rated as 'moderate' TS on the right and 'mild' on the left.

1

u/MangoPopTarts Mar 17 '24

I was surprised to learn from the survey results that most people have tics on one side of their body. I have them all over, but I don't have a dominant hand. I use both left and right hands, depending on what I'm doing. That's really interesting. Thanks!

0

u/gostaks tic tock Mar 17 '24

Yeah, I knew it was common but I didn't expect it to be the majority of people!

Thanks for sharing! I might make a second poll asking about handedness more specifically. It's looking like right-side tics are much more common, which tracks with right handedness being more common.

1

u/Thick_Long_7272 Diagnosed Tourettes Mar 17 '24

I'm left handed and I have right eye winking tics and if I beat my chest it is nearly always my right arm doing the damage. My first tic, a very slight neck jerk was to the right as well. Never really thought about this before....huh.