What causes hand tremors in teenagers?

In everyone’s impression, hand tremors are exclusive to the elderly and are not something to worry about. However, when they occur in teenagers, it is a different matter. It may be physiological hand tremor, so there is no need to worry too much. But if it is hereditary or pathological, you should pay special attention.

1. Hereditary hand tremor. Action tremor is a hand tremor that occurs when the hands are in action (such as holding chopsticks, picking up food, writing, etc.). This type of tremor can be further divided into postural and intentional tremors. The most common action tremor is primary tremor, which usually starts with one hand and then gradually spreads to the other hand. It becomes more serious with age and is about 0-3

Between % and 1.7% of the population have this type of tremor, so it is very common. About half of them are inherited, which is an autologous dominant trait. The onset age is around 15 years old, and the incidence rate is the same for both men and women. Sometimes even the head, neck, face, chin and vocal cords may tremble. If the action tremor is not serious and does not affect your life or work, no medication is needed. Usually when patients come to the clinic, they say that the tremor is severe enough to affect their daily life functions, but when asked how long they have had the disease, they are often not clear. If it has reached this stage, taking medication (such as beta-blockers or certain anti-epileptic drugs) can control the condition. Interestingly, some hand tremors may temporarily slow down or disappear after drinking alcohol.

2. Physiological hand tremor. Physiological hand tremors have small amplitudes and fast speeds, and often occur when the hand is stationary. They are small, fast, and irregular tremors. Physiological hand tremors often occur when one is under mental stress, fear, emotional excitement, severe pain, or extreme fatigue. Once the above causes of hand tremors are eliminated, the hand tremors will also disappear.

3. Pathological hand tremor. Pathological hand tremor, medically known as "tremor", refers to involuntary tremors of the hands, which are often permanent. There are two main types of hand tremors: static hand tremors and dynamic hand tremors. Among them, static hand tremor is the hand tremor that occurs when the muscles are completely relaxed, that is, in a quiet state. This type of hand tremor disappears during sleep, with a frequency of 4-6 times per second and a relatively regular pattern. It is a typical disease such as Parkinson's syndrome. Sports tremor is a tremor that only occurs during exercise, and the tremor becomes more severe when the movement approaches the target. For example, when a doctor performs the finger-to-nose test on a patient, he asks the patient to straighten his forearm and then point his index finger at the tip of his nose. The closer the tip of the index finger is to the tip of the nose, the more obvious the hand tremor will be. Motor tremors are irregular, with large amplitudes, and are aggravated by emotions. They are common in lesions of the cranial nerves and upper limb nerves.