My 11 year old son started compulsively popping his neck last spring. The pediatrician suggested that it was a tic. She said to ignore it and it may go away in 6 months. It continued through the fall and then tapered off until this spring. Now it is back full force and he is now popping knuckles, ankles, toes, etc… I was wondering if seasonal allergies could increase his desire to crack his joints since it tapered off in the winter and spiked again this spring. However, his allergy medicine doesn't seem to reduce popping. He describes the jointcracking as something he feels like he has to do or he feels really uncomfortable. If he tries not to do it, he wants to do it even more. He has days that he pops his neck so much that it hurts him and he requests things to hold his neck still (travel pillow).
His history of behaviors has me thinking that he may have OCD.
As a small child (3yrs) he did excessive blinking of his eyes, but that stopped within a few months (again, maybe allergy related).
Later (4-5yrs), he started showing germ phobic tendencies with hand washing.
He then began avoiding sitting on toilet seats (even at home) and would hover or perch on his feet to avoid the germs.
Now he has become skeptical of his food and examines it carefully for gross stuff like burned spots and hairs.
I don't want to overreact and make the situation worse, but as his mom I feel responsible to consider all the treatment options.
I have heard that OCD can be treated with Cognitive Behavior Therapy and drugs to increase Seratonin. I am wondering if any jointcrackers have experienced success with these OCD treatments.