Ed Palmer, 34, from Birmingham was diagnosed with Tourette’s syndrome at the age of 14
Ed Palmer, 34, from south Birmingham who was diagnosed with Tourette’s when he was 14 years old(Image: Ed Palmer)
A Birmingham man has opened up over his ‘painful’ symptoms of Tourette’s – detailing the lengths he sometimes has to go to ‘restrict his movements.’
Ed Palmer, 34, from south Birmingham, was formally diagnosed with Tourette’s when he was 14 years old, but first started experiencing signs of the condition at the age of four.
Tourette’s syndrome is a condition which can cause you to make sudden, repetitive sounds of movements. There is currently no cure, but treatment can help to manage the tics, according to the NHS.
Ed, who is a trainee academic psychiatrist, experiences involuntary movements “almost constantly” throughout the day – explaining how some of his most common tics involve neck movement or “face grimacing.”
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He told BirminghamLive: “At my baseline level, I think I’m probably moving hundreds of times a day, but I don’t really notice it because I’ve got used to it.
“I’ve learnt to live alongside it.”
Ed described how ‘for the most part’ he is able to live a “full life” alongside his tics – but shared how he often experiences “a lot of pain.”
He shared there times where his Tourette’s syndrome becomes worse, which can be due to instances such as having a ‘stressful time in work’ or if “there is something that’s going on in life in general.”
“The main fallout for my tics if they get worse or increase is that I get a lot of pain attached to it. I move my neck [and] shoulders in an unusual way, like I said probably hundreds of times a day,” he said.
“That, unsurprisingly, causes muscular problems, skeletal problems, so I do get a lot of pain.”
He added: “If you’re doing moments in an abnormal way [and] they’re not part of your normal movement routine repeatedly, then you can get quite severe pain.
“That can be a real problem for people.”
Ed described a distressing moment as a teenager where his Tourette’s became so severe his tics caused the skin between his fingers to rip.
He said: “There were times when I was younger, particularly associated with periods of stress and exam times where they did get a lot worse.
“My GCSEs were probably one of my first, big stressors as a teenager. I remember ticking my fingers so much that I had kind of ripped the skin in between my fingers.
“I was ticking my eyes so much that I was getting really dreadful headaches.”
He went on to say he sometimes even attempts to ‘restrict his movements’ if his tics are giving him pain.
“With my fingertips, for example, if they’re really bad and it’s hurting, then I’ll sometimes try and restrict my movement a bit so that might be taping my fingers together so that I physically can’t move them.
“If I’ve got a lot of muscle pain, then I’ll go to an osteopath and have that treated. Hot baths and things like that to kind of relax the muscles are really helpful.”
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As an adult, Ed has numerous ways of managing his Tourette’s if a stressful situation occurs, sharing how anything which could be a planned stressor can be aided by carving out some relaxation time, as well as submerging himself in something he really enjoys, and ensuring a quality night’s sleep.
The vice chair trustee for Tourette’s Action said: “For me it might be, playing a musical instrument, being in the garden, cooking, things like that [which] will be things that can reduce my ticks.
“Timetabling those in is a really good [way] that I’ve found to help manage them.”
Despite Ed’s Tourette’s diagnosis, he wanted to reiterate for the “most part” he his able to carry out his life exactly as he wishes – sharing the syndrome is only one part of who he is.
“For the most part, I’m able to live a really full life and having tics and Tourette’s is just one part of who I am,” he said.