Facial tics are characterized by abrupt, seemingly unintentional muscle contractions of muscle groups in the face and neck region. These contractions are regularly recurring in nature, and appear to have no actual point. Most tics are overstated eye blinking, squinting, nose wrinkling, facial grimacing or even vocalizations such as throat clearing or grunting. Tics often begin during childhood, and often resolve as a child ages. This is not always the situation, though, and many people continue to experience tics as they enter adulthood.

Tics often increase in regularity as a sufferer feels anxiety or discomfort. Victims who suffer from tics report they are often aware of a tic as it approaches. It's often described as an overwhelming feeling of tension and the compulsion to perform the tic to break the tension; somewhat akin to the approaching urge to yawn or sneeze which relieves the person. Controlling a tic can trigger anxiety, which can lead to the beginning of another tic. Tics are often described as being unconscious but research and reports from victims indicates they are indeed voluntary motions that can be controlled by the sufferer.

A tic can manifest as a simple tic, as in facial grimaces, mouth twitches or grunting or can be more complex such as is often seen in Tourette syndrome. Simple tics are more commonly seen than complex tics, but they can be just as devastating to the individual; while a facial tic does not cause physical pain to the sufferer, it often causes social problems or mental distress.

Children, in particular, can have a hard time dealing with a tic because of mocking from other children, or teachers that don't fully know the thorny situation the child is in. While tics are often described as not being totally involuntary, control of a tic can be quite difficult to establish, especially for children. Children often do not establish the skills to become aware of a tic onset as well as an adult.

Adults can also face critical trouble in their lives when dealing with a facial tic. Social problems are quite common, and even when tics are generally controlled the adult can become very tired by the frequent need to identify the onset of and control the tic impulse. Adults and children alike may suffer from self-worth or self-esteem issues due to their continual suffering from a disease that often causes them to become social outcasts.

Relieving an individual from the anxiety of a facial tic can be a life-changing experience. Self-esteem usually improves, and social anxiety is no longer a power holding a person back from experiencing a meaningful life. In children, relieving a tic may permit the child to develop with less anxiety while he/she has a happier childhood.

Over the years, many treatments for tics have been applied with varying degrees of achievement. Counseling or psychotherapy can help uncover the emotional causes of a tic, and may help someone understand better how to combat the urge to do their tic. Sedatives and other forms of medication sometimes do well in cases of simple tics. These medications often come saddled with unwanted side effects, so many people seek alternative treatments.

Hypnotherapy and NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) methods have been developed expressly for the purpose of overcoming facial tics. Since facial tics are not strictly involuntary in nature, these treatments aim to change the sufferer's unconscious response to the onset of a tic episode such as facial grimacing or throat clearing. In a large number of cases this can be accomplished by allowing the unconscious mind to avoid the onset of the tic. In some extreme cases, however, the sufferer's response will be redirected to some innocuous portion of the body such as twitching a toe instead of facial muscles.

Facial tics can be an uncomfortable life-affecting woe. Children and adults alike can suffer greatly from the occurence of a facial tic such as grunting, nose wrinkling, facial grimaces, mouth twitches, squinting or eye blinking. Eliminating a facial tic can prove very helpful to the sufferer on an emotional level.

Although lots of treatments have been developed to thwart facial tics, Hypnosis and NLP aim to utilize natural unconscious methods of redirecting the tic response. This type of treatment has great benefit over other methods such as counseling, which may not help the tic behavior at all, or attempt to change the conscious response to tic behavior.

Hypnosis and NLP also do not experience the unwanted side effects of drugs. This beneficial method of treatment can also reduce tension and concern in the sufferer's life, thereby both reducing the impulse to form a tic and proving an advantage in everyday life. Due to these factors, Hypnosis and NLP are often the safest, most preferred methods of treatment for tic sufferers.