Cold temperatures are a trigger for some people, including myself. Sometimes shivering triggers tics that involve similar shivering motions as well!
Poll results regarding cold weather and tics
I conducted a Reddit poll in the r/Tourette’s community, asking the (then) 11,700 strong group if hot or cold weather had an effect on their tics. 159 people took part in the poll, and the results are as follows:
- FYI, the tick next to ‘heat’ is from my vote. At the time I felt heat was more stressful and often caused more tics.
- Out of the 159 votes, 88 believed cold temperatures made them worse. Only 15 people believed the heat did the same. A large portion of the group (56) did not believe the hot or cold had an effect at all.
- The reason this figure is slightly different to the image is because one user admitted they accidentally hit the wrong button when voting.
- Two users told me that shivering was a trigger for tics. This makes sense as shivering can look like tics, and Tourette’s likes to pick up on movements that can be made into tics.
There isn’t really much information on the internet linking tics to temperature.
Despite this, the results seem pretty conclusive. A large number of people believe tics are worsened by the cold and that is something to work with in the long run.
2 responses
I’m wondering if the lack of sunlight affects severity of tics.
Interesting, I’ve never thought about sunlight affecting tics. Something I will have to look into and make a post about, would be interesting to hear from those in sunnier places. Thanks for the comment!