Magnesium
Good day everyone! My name is Sai from Baguio City, Philippines. I am in search for a cure to my son's nervous tics. I found out that Transdermal Magnesium Therapy might be of great help. In this regard, I would like to ask if laboratory grade magnesium chloride can be used to make magnesium oil? This is the only form of magnesium chloride readily available to us. By the way, a colleague is asking if sodium thiosulfate (also in laboratory grade form) can be used for household medications? Thank you so much and God bless everyone.
Fountain Inn, Sc
09/21/2013
Hello Xyrus (aka Sai)... concerning your son's tic problem, you ask if magnesium chloride will work for a subdermal application...
Well, why don't you just use epsom salts which is magnesium sulfate; that's drinkable and is the salt used for "bath" purposes. If you drink a tablespoon in a glass of water, likely you will spend some time in the bathroom contemplating whether a tablespoon was too much. At that level it is a laxative.
Now if you want to get the MgSO4 (mag sulfate or epsom salt) to go INTO the skin, by itself it will indeed soak into the body but for real absorption, you'd add a little DMSO to the "paste" which would carry the magnesium more efficiently. You can read about DMSO by googling: youtube 60 minutes DMSO Dr Jacobs and get a three part explanation.
I know epsom salts are available in the Philippines. Epsome salts are worldwide.
Somewhere, Europe
09/21/2013
Fountain Inn, Sc
09/22/2013

To Xyrus: If you google "magnesium oil" you'll find it is magnesium chloride and added water. That doesn't make what most people think of as an "oil" but rather just a watery looking liquid. Just like magnesium sulfate (epsom salts) which must be diluted in water. That makes a liquid too, not an oil.
So you have what you need to make your own transdermal application. Either will absorb into the skin. The main point is the magnesium deficiency can be overcome with regular applications of either.
Magnesium is a wonder worker. In times of our grandparents the by word about magnesium was that if a person was anxious or tense or irritable, a comment would be made, "He needs his salts. " Meaning an epsom salts bath to absorb the magnesium. It is a calmer; a heart critical mineral; a brain enhancer and on and on.
If I'm ever asked about the key to heart health, by the way, I'll emphasize two things; natural Vitamin E, and magnesium.
Benguet, Philippines
09/22/2013
Fountain Inn, Sc
09/23/2013
Ct, Us
03/09/2015
Our son suffered from sever nervous ticks in his neck and mouth and eye twitching. I think it is related to his several strep throats and unsuccessful several antibiotic medications, in any case we have drastically diminished his tics with supplements, RAW GARLIC every day, extra virgin FISH OIL mercury free! , good organic supplements including TURMERIC and ginger and multi vitamins plant based! Probiotics essential to his daily diet, good PROBIOTICS with many strains, MAGNESIUM yes works especially before the supplements kick in, VITAMIN D if needed during winter months. Good luck.
Nj, Usa
04/10/2015
Virginia
12/19/2015
Interesting. My son had strep throat 6 times last year. Heartbreaking. This year none, but he has been having tics on and off. I have an expensive multivitamin for him that has omega 3 and magnesium infused. I watch his sugar intake as well, but now I'm even looking at carbs and possibly gluten. I gave him a probiotic yesterday am, but will buy a better one today. I'll have him sip some magnesium drink as well, maybe another small dose of fish oil. A few weeks ago he was "who-ing" like an owl, but that stopped after a week, now the last few days he has been throat clearing. This is crazy, but all I know is I am not givning him any drugs. I'll do it naturally as I can...
Pampanga
07/17/2016
Nj
05/11/2018
I just came across this and realize it is years later, but this sounds like he may have a case of PANDAS. Please look into this immediately if you haven't already. My son had this as a result of a Strep infection. There is help for this. Please look into it.

Just a note regarding magnesium and Tourettes.... A friend of mine has a little boy who began exhibiting tics with his head and neck. He and his parents were frustrated because they were reluctant to keep him on the meds prescribed for him as he became more irritable and clumsy. His parents took him off the meds and began supplementing his diet with a magnesium supplement every evening. I had recommended they check with their doctor to try magnesium and fish oil as we use these supplements for our family (but not for tics, only muscle cramps etc. ). He is not taking fish oil yet.
The very noticable tics have disappeared, he is now able to sleep through the night, has no headache complaints now and is performing better academically. He seems like a different child... Happier. He has only been taking the magnesium for around 2 weeks now. Best wishes to you all!
Grateful, Usa
06/08/2011
What kind of magnesium? Bless you for posting this wonderful information!
Long Lake, Ny-usa
06/09/2011
Hello! I believe she purchased basic magnesium supplements at a pharmacy-250 mg... He takes one crushed up in applesauce in the evening. It has been remarkable thus far!
Mason
11/29/2012
I am 48 years old and have some for of tic issue all of my life. I read about taking more magnesium from different web sites and within a few days of adding it along with zinc to my diet and reducing my caffeine intake I feel like a different person. No more embarassing facial expressions, sounds etc. Kudos to the people who shared this priceless information.
India
08/04/2013
Does this really work. I have facial tics for the last three years. I need to get rid of them. Please help me out!!
Detroit, Mi
02/22/2014
I've had Tourette's for 50+ years. Some people outgrow it - mine has gotten much worse in recent years. Unfortunately, I also have a medical condition that keeps me from sleeping well, so I need caffeine during the day. That's probably aggravating it. I do take magnesium for leg cramps at night; I will try increasing it.
Connecticut, Usa
03/09/2015
Our son suffered from sever nervous ticks in his neck and mouth and eye twitching.
I think it is related to his several strep throats and unsuccessful several antibiotic medications, in any case we have drastically diminished his tics with supplements, RAW GARLIC every day (I also buy Garlinase pills) extra virgin FISH OIL mercury free! , good organic supplements including TURMERIC and ginger and multi vitamins plant based! Such as New Chapter, Probiotics essential to his daily diet, good PROBIOTICS with many strains, MAGNESIUM yes works especially before the supplements kick in, VITAMIN D if needed during winter months. Good luck.
Illinois
07/28/2016
Angeles City, Philippines
09/18/2016
Pls share the magnesium supplement to me. My daughter 3 yrs and 9 month just started tics ( eye blinking and facial twitching ) just a week ago. We thought on the first time we've observed her she has a eye blinking, we thought it's due to watching you tube on IPAD more than 6 a hours a day but then the next day it became severe eye blinking and facial twitching even she is not watching. Her pedia advised me to bring her to the PEDIA OPTHO but then when I read about the blinking of eyes last Friday thru internet I found out that is tics or tourettes syndrome and she needs to go to the PEDIA NEURO. She is only the girl on our family and I wish her tics will be cure. Pls share the magnesium supplement.
Amesbury, Ma
09/18/2016
Mabalacat Pampanga, Philippines
09/27/2016
Missouri
02/04/2017
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
03/05/2017
Chicago, Il
04/05/2018

Hi all,
I am so thankful to everyone for sharing their stories, and possible remedies for tics. I just thought I'd write a note as to what has helped my 7 year old, who started with neck rolls a few months back, and then severe eye-blinking tics. I took him to the doctor, because I thought he may have had something wrong with his neck. The x-ray showed all was well. Then, immediately the next day, his eye-blinking started. That's when I realized they were both tics. I read about the different natural treatments, and went to Whole Foods to buy anything that might help him, as it broke my heart to watch his distress. I tried two types of magnesium, Natural Calm Kids, and the regular Natural Calm (Natural Vitatily is the brand, I think).
I gave him half the recommended dosage in the morning and half at night. I don't give any calcium supplementation. I gave him a chewable suntheanine tablet with each dose. (I think it's just a brand of l-theanine?) The Natural Calm Kids decreased his tics, but the regular Natural Calm product has worked amazingly well. I only see two or three eye squeezes a day now. The regular Natural Calm has magnesium citrate vs. the kid version, which has magnesium glycinate.
I have read that glycinate is actually more easily absorbed, but it doesn't work as well for my particular child. I should say, we also rub magnesium oil on his feet at night. I don't know the brand, but it was the only one they carried. It was $10 for a relatively large spray bottle. But we used the oil with both magnesium trials, so I'm not sure that it makes a huge difference. I wanted to let everyone know what has worked for us so far, just in case it could help someone else as well. Good luck to everyone.
Texas
10/12/2020
Sea Salt
Wanted to share, I found that if I have my son soak in a epsen or sea salt bath (sea salt seems to work better) after he has gone swimming it seems to get rid of the chemicals from the pool and the facial tics don't become a problem. Hope this helps!
Vitamin D, Magnesium, Vitamin A

While visiting my daughter at Thanksgiving time 2008, we noticed my then 7 year old grandson was making strange involuntary movements with his head. He would with some frequency jut his chin forward and upward, and then move it a little from side to side to stretch his neck. Again when we returned at Christmas time it was even worse, being more frequent when he was quiet than when active. It continued until summer of 2009 and suddenly by mid summer disappeared.
We noticed that the head movements began again by the end of October, 2009, this time with the addition of movements with his fingers like he was hand milking a cow. He complained of his fingers hurting from the movements which he could not stop.
My first thought was that there might be a seasonal factor or possible either the physical or emotional environment at school. One thing I thought about was the florescent lights in the school which are not full spectrum.
As an experiment in early November, 2009, we began giving him 2,000IU vitamin D3 capsules, three a day since he weighed about 80lbs. Our thinking was that maybe he was getting enough vitamin D from the sun in the summer, but not in the autumn and winter. An after some more research we added one 250mg Magnesium tablet per day beginning a few weeks later and a 5,000IU vitamin A capsule every other day.
So here we are 10 days into December, and for the last week we have not noticed any tics. I realize it is harder to observe something that isn't there than to notice something that is, so we are tentative in our certainty about this cure working, but excited nonetheless.
I will post again in two months, hopefully to confirm that this truly has worked. If anyone else is experiencing this problem, please post your results if you try the vitamin D3, Magnesium, Vitamin A treatment.
San Antonio, Tx
04/08/2010
Dayton, Oh
09/16/2010
Spanaway, Wa
02/16/2011
My son started to have facial tics about three years ago. All the doctors told me that there was nothing I could do and to ignore it. As a mom I knew somthing was not right. He was sensitive to everything food, chemicals etc. I took him to a natural path and he had a over growth of candida and fungal. After getting rid of the over growth the facial tics and be sensitive to everthing disappeared. When he is low in magnesium he does start to have mild facial tics and a ton of spinach seems to do the trick. Another thing I have noticed when he goes swimming in a chlorinated pool he starts to have tics, has anyone had this happen?
San Antonio , Tx
06/27/2011
I am a 34 yo female and my first observed tics were in a pool. That was a very profound statement I've always wondered why did my tics start randomly then. I was swimming which was a pleasant summer activity at my grandmother's pool with friend. It was low in the way of stress and I was about seven.
Tampa, Florida
03/28/2012
Charlotte, Nc
03/17/2013
I found that there was a particular television show that was causing my son's tics. It was not that fast paced or crazy, but it did something to him. Once we stopped allowing him to watch that show, the tics dissappeared. We also just stopped all television for awhile, for good measure.
San Antonio Tx
06/28/2016
Uk
09/03/2016
Mn Usa
02/01/2017
Please, get the "Natural Treatments for Ticks and Tourette's" book by Sheila Rogers. I am reading it right now and starting to see a link between my son's constant allergies/bronchial asthma and the eye twitching/blinking he has developed 4 months ago....i am trying to find the environmental physician/allergist and a homeopathy doctor who could test him for food sensitivities and maybe get rid of gluten and other things in his diet. There are accounts of other families in this book who have found the solution to their child's tics/TS. I am hopeful.
Canada
02/22/2017
We just took my 2 year old swimming for the first time in 12 months, and 4 days later a severe eye tic began. We've had her eye examined, it's healthy. Doctor says its a minor tic that we need to keep an eye on. She also has another tic (shoulder shrugging) that she exhibits infrequently, usually while seated at meals, but this I completely new and came so soon after swimming at a pool.
Washington
02/23/2017
Your daughter may possibly have something called Tourette's. There is a supplement called NAC that helps with compulsive behaviors. I hope this is helpful to you.
Australia
04/02/2017
Madison, Wi
08/18/2017
Ohio
12/12/2017
Toronto, Canada
02/01/2018