Picture a romantic scene. Dinner by candlelight, and you are gazing into the eyes of that special someone. The moment is here, and you are ready to ask or answer that all-important question.

Suddenly, however, your eyes start blinking rapidly, and you begin clearing your throat. Or, to your horror, you start grunting. The words won©t come out. It©s your worst nightmare. The facial tic that has beset you since childhood rises again to claim your future. You worry that the love of your life will never even look at you again ©or worse, pity you.

If you are living with a facial tic, chances are you©ve lived with this since your earliest memories. If you don©t have a tic, you have probably met someone who has had one.

A facial tic is a repetitive, continuous muscle spasm that can affect either the muscles of the eyes, the face, or both. Doctors don©t know exactly what causes facial tics, but have been able to show that stress and anxiety definitely makes these spasms worse.

Examples of facial tics include rapid eye movements, eye blinking, or squinting. Some people experience mouth or nose wrinkling, twitching, or other facial grimaces. Throat clearing and grunting are also considered to be facial tics.

Some doctors have found that a lack of certain vitamins and minerals such as magnesium may be responsible for facial tics. Sometimes, this problem appears to be the result of an inherited nerve condition. Tourette©s Syndrome is one condition involving muscle twitches and facial tics that seems to be the result of a genetic problem with the body©s nervous system.

One-fourth of all children develop facial tics, but most tend to ©grow out©of them. As they grow into adulthood, these spasms become much less severe or go away altogether. What happens, though, for people who aren©t lucky enough to ©grow out©of these muscle spasms?

While children may struggle with this problem in school years, imagine how this condition can affect adults. This can be extremely painful and difficult. Social situations can become overwhelming, a scene for agonizing embarrassment. Many children and adults who have facial tics suffer from low self-esteem.

In some cases, people may be able to recognize and fight off the muscle spasm that causes the tic. This, however, can leave them feeling drained and exhausted, both physically and emotionally.

Finding relief from this struggle can lead to a huge sense of freedom and even help people to find a completely new and healthy social identity. They are free from painful embarrassment and social agony, and are able to learn to live with joy at this freedom.

Some people try to find this freedom through drugs designed to help a person relax or remain calm. The side effects of these medicines, however, can include drowsiness or other more serious problems. Therefore, health experts have been searching for less dangerous ways to help people suffering from facial tics.

Two alternative treatments have shown great promise in helping people control their facial tics. These are hypnosis and Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP).

Because the source of much of people©s anxiety and stress lies in the unconscious mind, these programs are ideal. Both target the unconscious, where the problem begins. For this reason, both hypnosis and NLP have been much more successful than other therapeutic methods in treating facial twitches, grimacing, eye blinking, and other tics.

The best part about each of these therapies is that people suffering from facial tics can learn to use the methods in the privacy and safety of their own home, where they are most relaxed and comfortable. Self-Hypnosis DVDs and CDs are available, so people don©t have to spend hundreds of dollars, as well as hours of their time, with a therapist each week. Pre-recorded NLP programs are also available to help people find freedom from this painful problem.

People don©t have to spend the rest of their lives struggling with the pain and embarrassment of repetitive throat clearing or blinking or twitching at awkward moments. They can experience freedom, and learn to re-channel the stress so that it doesn©t cause these embarrassing tics.

Do you really want to live with this for the rest of your life? You deserve so much more. Find the answers that will help you recover ©and enjoy the joy of a new freedom in your social life today!

A list of the common uses of hypnosis.