A couple of weeks ago I wrote about a new ticced song. The chorus was about animals liking it ‘Hard in the face.’ It seems my tics have decided that simply singing about liking it hard in the face is no longer enough.

In the last week I’ve been having spells of hitting myself in the face repeatedly, and hard. This isn’t new – a few years ago I had the same tic. Back then it was almost constant and posed a big problem.

My face was frequently bruised and I had to wear protective hats and helmets a lot of the time. Hitting myself in the face is as much of a shock as anyone else throwing the punch. Even if I know it’s likely to happen, every blow is a painful surprise.

At the moment this isn’t anywhere near the same level as it used to be but its return is still a knock in more ways than one.

In the past when I’ve been feeling miserable about my poor mobility I’ve comforted myself with the knowledge that at least I’m not hitting myself in the face any more. I have to admit I do feel a little cheated now I’ve started punching myself in the face again but still can’t walk very well.

That said, I’m actually doing well at the moment and what’s different this time around is that I feel much better equipped to manage this challenge.

While I don’t like it ‘hard in the face’ the way the animals do, I know I’m strong enough to live with it for now.