Some tics are not merely a nuisance but a slow erosion of childhood itself: sleep thins, meals are skipped, school doors close, and a young person learns to be looked at with curiosity or unkindness. Into that long and lonely struggle has come a small device worn at the wrist, which sends gentle electrical pulses along a nerve that runs toward the hand, and which some families now describe as a light switch returning a part of life that had gone dark. Its promise is still held in suspension, waiting on the slow judgement of regulators and health-service evaluators who ask, reasonably, for more
Wrist Device Offers Tourette's Relief as Families Await Regulatory Approval and NHS Access
Children and young people with severe tics have been bedridden, missed school, and struggled with sleep, eating, and mental health before using the device.
"It's like a light switch," says Ollie, who got part of his life back
Mark
Why does the split between Neupulse-C and Neupulse-M matter so much?
Mimi
Because families can buy the consumer version now, but only the medical version could be considered for the NHS, and it hasn't been approved yet.
Luke
And the approval is a hope, not a date. Jackson says he hopes for NHS availability in the next year or so. Nothing confirms that.
Mark
What does the trial evidence actually show?
Mimi
In 2023, 121 people using a prototype saw tic frequency fall by 25% on average.
Luke
Average is the key word. A quarter reduction is modest next to the "light switch" stories, and it was a prototype, not the product being sold.
Mark
So the personal accounts go further than the trial?
Mimi
They do, and they're vivid. Katie, Ollie and Mylo all describe near-instant calm or relief.
Luke
Those are individual testimonies, chosen for a news story. They don't tell us how many people feel no benefit. NICE has asked for long-term evidence for that reason.
Mark
Ollie has FND rather than Tourette's. Does that matter?
Mimi
It's notable. He was first thought to have Tourette's, and the device still worked for him.
Luke
Worked for him, yes. The reporting doesn't say whether it's been tested for FND, so that's one case, not a finding.
Le Pouls
- A device worn on the wrist is sending electrical pulses into the median nerve, and families are reporting that tics fall quiet within minutes.
- Two versions exist side by side, with the consumer model already sold in the thousands while the medical version waits behind a regulatory gate.
- NICE has asked for more evidence of long-term benefit, and until approval arrives the NHS cannot offer the device to the children who need it most.
- Parents who once felt helpless now hold a tentative hope, and the developers aim for NHS availability within about a year, with the regulatory decision as the moment everything turns.
Some tics are not merely a nuisance but a slow erosion of childhood itself: sleep thins, meals are skipped, school doors close, and a young person learns to be looked at with curiosity or unkindness. Into that long and lonely struggle has come a small device worn at the wrist, which sends gentle electrical pulses along a nerve that runs toward the hand, and which some families now describe as a light switch returning a part of life that had gone dark. Its promise is still held in suspension, waiting on the slow judgement of regulators and health-service evaluators who ask, reasonably, for more time and more proof before a hopeful story can become a standard of care.
At seven, Katie began making sounds and movements she could not stop. She snorted so often that her throat grew sore and she spent two weeks in bed. By fifteen, Tourette's had reached into her sleep, her appetite and her schooling, and other children stared and asked why she did it. "I think I became quite sad a lot of the time," she says. Her mother Julia, watching it unfold, felt the particular helplessness of not knowing where to turn.
Hope came through a news story about a wrist device developed at the University of Nottingham. Before it was even on sale, Katie and Julia made the journey to try it. The calm arrived almost at once, and on the drive home Katie cried the whole way, wishing she could have one that very moment.
The device, called Neupulse, delivers electrical pulses to the median nerve at the wrist, a route that appears to shift activity in the brain areas governing movement. A 2023 UK trial of 121 people using a prototype found an average 25% fall in tic frequency while it was worn. Two versions now exist: Neupulse-C is sold as a wellness product, while Neupulse-M awaits approval as a medical treatment.
The wait is the heart of the matter. NICE has called the technology promising but wants firmer evidence over the long term before recommending it for the NHS, and the developers hope approval and NHS access can arrive within about a year. For families still living with the condition, that year feels long, though the relief reported by users offers a reason to keep waiting.
At seven, Katie began making sounds and movements she could not stop. She snorted constantly, so much that she gave herself a sore throat and spent two weeks in bed. Now 15 and living in Hertfordshire, she says Tourette's affected her sleep and her eating, and caused her to miss school. Children looked at her and asked why she was doing it. "I think I became quite sad a lot of the time," she says.
Her mother, Julia, calls watching it heartbreaking. "You feel helpless," she says. "You don't know where to turn." Hope arrived when she read about a wrist device developed at the University of Nottingham. In December, before the device was on sale, she and Katie travelled to Nottingham to try it. Katie says the effect was instant and she felt really calm. On the drive home she cried the whole way, because, she recalls, she wanted one right then.
The device is called Neupulse. It sends electrical pulses to the median nerve at the wrist, and trials have shown this can alter activity in the parts of the brain that control movement. The researchers found that rhythmic stimulation can reduce how often tics occur and how intense they are. In 2023, a UK clinical trial of 121 people, using a prototype, found an average 25% drop in tic frequency while it was worn. That year the singer Lewis Capaldi, who has Tourette's, also tried it before a gig in Nottingham. The university says he was impressed and keen to use it again.
The university and its spin-out company, Neurotherapuetics Ltd, developed the device, and the company secured an additional £1m to commercialise it. According to the charity Tourettes Action, there are two versions. Neupulse-C is sold as a consumer wellness device. Neupulse-M is meant to be marketed as a medical device for treating tics and Tourette's, but it has not yet received regulatory approval for that purpose. The university says thousands of devices have been sold so far.
That approval matters for the NHS. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has identified the technology as promising, the charity says, but asked for more evidence of long-term benefit before making recommendations. Prof Stephen Jackson, who led the research, says NICE provisionally evaluated it but cannot recommend NHS use until regulatory approval is secured. He says the team is working as hard as it can and hopes for NHS availability in the next year or so. In 2025 NICE said its committee would meet again to appraise clinical and cost effectiveness and publish new guidance. Tourettes Action says more than 300,000 people in the UK have the condition, which is incurable.
Ollie, 15, from Cheshire, is another user. Nearly two years ago he cracked his neck, and within about 48 hours the movements were constant. He did not leave the house for about a month, stopped seeing friends, found reading and writing hard, and was out of school for six or seven months as GCSEs approached. His father, Alex, says he and Ollie's mother were at a loss, watching their son deteriorate. The family first thought it was Tourette's, but Ollie was later diagnosed with Functional Neurological Disorder. They heard about the device through the film I Swear, based on the life of Tourette's campaigner John Davidson. Ollie nearly told his parents not to bother, doubting it would work. A few months ago he switched it on and phoned them. Alex says you could hear him crying because his neck movement had stopped. Ollie describes it as a light switch, like getting part of your life back.
Mylo, 17, from Buckinghamshire, took part in the 2023 trial at 13 and was recently given a device as a gift. He says that when he switched it on, the urge to suppress his facial tics went almost at once. "I feel new almost, which is strange," he says.
Emma McNally, chief executive of Tourettes Action, says users she has spoken to give it nothing but praise. Some have returned to places they had avoided for a long time, such as the cinema or a library, and others use it to come out of a tic attack. Jackson says users have told him they got through wedding vows and airports without ticcing. The device has also been tested in early trials for Parkinson's tremors, and the university hopes to launch a UK-wide trial for anxiety and OCD. For now, the watch point is the regulatory decision on Neupulse-M, which NICE is waiting on.
Citations marquantes
We are working diligently and as hard as we can to get regulatory approval for the Neupulse device as a treatment for Tourette's.— Prof Stephen Jackson, University of Nottingham
It's like getting part of your life back.— Ollie, 15, Neupulse user
Envie de l'histoire complète ?
Lire l'original sur BBC News ↗