Understanding Your Child's Tics and Tourette in Los Angeles
If your child, whether 4 or 14, has a new tic or repeated movement you can't explain, Dr. Shawn Sedgh, MD can evaluate it in person and tell you clearly what it means.
Greater Los Angeles
By appointment
Tics and Tourette in Los Angeles
If you've noticed your child blinking hard, clearing their throat, shrugging, or making a small repeated movement they don't seem to control, you're not alone, and you're right to look it up rather than brush it off. Tics often show up between ages 5 and 10, and a brief eye-blinking phase in a 6-year-old is a very different picture from movements and sounds together in a 12-year-old that have lasted over a year. Many tics in childhood are temporary and fade on their own. Some persist, and when both motor and vocal tics continue past twelve months, we start talking about Tourette syndrome. What we can't tell you from a search result is which one your child has, that takes watching the pattern over time and, often, a careful in-person look.
Here's the honest calibration: most childhood tics are not dangerous, and they don't mean something is seriously wrong with your child's brain. They tend to wax and wane, get worse with stress or excitement, and peak in the late elementary years. What deserves a closer look is a tic that's interfering with school or friendships, appearing alongside attention or focus struggles, changing suddenly, or lasting long enough that you're no longer sure it's a phase. At SimplyPedsNeuro, serving families across Greater Los Angeles, every explanation on our tics and Tourette pages is written for you as a parent, with the age band stated each time a sign is described, so you're not left sorting between "totally normal" and "rare and serious" on your own.
Your next step doesn't have to be guesswork. Start by noting what you're seeing, the movement or sound, how often, your child's age, and anything that makes it better or worse, and bring that to us. A visit request through SimplyPedsNeuro goes directly to Dr. Shawn Sedgh, MD, whose dual residency training in pediatrics and neurology covers children from birth through age 18, so he can evaluate the whole child, not just the tic. For families throughout Greater Los Angeles, that means one clear path from "what is happening?" to a real answer, in person, with a specialist who will tell you plainly what needs attention and what you can safely watch.
Tics noticed at Los Angeles schools
Teachers often see the blinking or the sound before a clinic does. Bring that observation, and your own timeline. The visit is in person, with an exam, for families in Greater Los Angeles.
A new tic this month is usually not an emergency. Painful tics, tics with other neurological changes, or spells that might not be tics should be described when you request the visit.
Why choose us
Dr. Shawn Sedgh, MD completed residency training in pediatrics (3 years) and neurology (3 years).
Dr. Shawn Sedgh, MD completed residency training in pediatrics (3 years) and neurology (3 years).
Explanations are written for the parent, with the age band stated when a sign is described.
Explanations are written for the parent, with the age band stated when a sign is described.
No medication doses are published on patient pages.
No medication doses are published on patient pages.
A visit request goes to Dr. Shawn Sedgh, MD. Practice address and phone are not published until he confirms them.
A visit request goes to Dr. Shawn Sedgh, MD. Practice address and phone are not published until he confirms them.
What to expect.
Describe without naming
What moves or what sound, how often, and when it started. A short video is useful.
Exam
A neurological exam to separate tics from other spells and to see whether anything else is present.
Watch or treat as a later question
Many children are rechecked rather than medicated. Any medicine discussion stays in the visit, not on this page.
Reassurance is a real outcome
If the story is a common, temporary tic and the exam is reassuring, that is the result. Dr. Sedgh will also say what would make him want to see your child again, so you are not left guessing.
Frequently asked questions
Do you offer Tics and Tourette across Greater Los Angeles?
Yes, if your child is between birth and age 18 and you're seeing new tics, like repeated blinking, throat clearing, or sudden movements, Dr. Shawn Sedgh, MD evaluates tics and Tourette in person, serving families across greater Los Angeles. His dual residency training in pediatrics and neurology means he can tell you whether what you're seeing fits a common childhood pattern or deserves a closer look. You can send a visit request directly to Dr. Sedgh through this site; the practice address and phone will be shared once he confirms them.
What makes your Tics and Tourette in Los Angeles different?
What makes our tics and Tourette guide different is that everything is written for you as a parent, not for clinicians, with the age band always stated, because a new tic at age 4 means something different than one at age 11, and we tell you honestly what's typical, what's uncertain, and when a neurologist should take a look. If you want your child seen, your visit request goes directly to Dr. Shawn Sedgh, MD, whose three years of pediatrics residency plus three years of neurology residency mean he evaluates tics and Tourette from birth through age 18 across greater Los Angeles. You get a clear explanation and a real path to an in-person evaluation, in plain English.
Are new tics an emergency?
Usually no. New blinking, shrugging, or throat clearing in a school-age child is common and often temporary. Ask sooner if the movements are painful, rapidly changing with other neurological signs, or you are not sure they are tics.
Does a week of blinking mean Tourette?
No. Tourette is not a label for a short run of one tic. It is a clinical description used when both movements and sounds have been part of the picture for a long time. That judgment belongs in a visit.