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Facial tics are characterized by sudden, apparently reflex muscle contractions of entire muscle groups in the face and neck region. These contractions are habitually repetitive in nature, and appear to have no valid reason. Most tics are overstated eye blinking, squinting, nose wrinkling, facial grimacing or even vocalizations such as throat clearing or grunting. Tics often show themselves during childhood, and most of the time resolve as a child ages. This is not always the case, though, and many people continue to suffer from tics as they enter adulthood.

Tics often increase in rate of recurrence as a person feels tension or discomfort. People who suffer from tics report they are able to sense 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 sufferer. Controlling a tic can cause tension, which can lead to the beginning of another tic. Tics are often described as being automatic but research and reports from sufferers indicates they are indeed voluntary motions that can be controlled by the victim.

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

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

Adults often face serious trouble in their lives when dealing with a facial tic. Social problems are very common, and even when tics are generally controlled the adult can become quite worn out by the recurrent 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 constant suffering from a disease that often causes them to become social outcasts.

Relieving a person of the distress of a facial tic can change that person's life. Self-worth often improves, and social anxiety is no longer a strength holding an individual back from experiencing a full life. In children, relieving a tic may allow the child to develop with less anxiety while he/sh has a happier childhood.

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

Hypnosis and NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) methods have been developed particularly for the purpose of dealing with tics. Since facial tics are not firmly involuntary in nature, these treatments aim to change the sufferer's unconscious response to the onset of a tic episode such as throat clearing or facial grimacing. In a large number of cases this can be done by allowing the unconscious mind to prevent the tic's onset. 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 awkward life-affecting trouble. 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 victim on an emotional level.

Although several 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 therapy has great benefit over other methods such as counseling, which may not treat the tic behavior at all, or attempt to change the conscious feeling about tic behavior.

Hypnosis and NLP also do not suffer from the unwanted side effects of drugs. This beneficial method of treatment can also cut stress 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.