My 5 year old daughter has always gotten the "sniffles" during piano practice. Like clockwork. Se has been taking lessons for over a year. It is always most noticeable on the first day after a lesson when the material is new to her and she struggles, she is wiping her nose constantly. It's real too! Her nose is REALLY running! Then, once she has the pieces down better, she loves practicing, and doesn't sniffle as much the rest of the week.
Now that she has kindergarten work, when she is working on writing and math exercises, anything difficult and new, SAME THING! Her nose starts running! She's working, and sniffling and wiping her nose!
She doesn't mind the nose wiping, she says she feels fine, and she's a great worker, we keep all lessons and school work low key and stress free...she's very bright and catches on to everything....she just gets the sniffles. They vanish as soon as she's done with her work or practice.
She practices her piano in a different room than her school work, and she's fine at the table where she does her school work for coloring, eating, etc, so it's not allergies...unless she's allergic to work!
Am I nuts? Do any of you have, or have you had something like this with your kids?
Sounds like a tic. My son has had them since he was about 4yrs old. (He's now 8yrs) My daughter is showing signs of them too...especially when she's watching tv.
It sounds like allergies to me. My nose would run whenever I was in my dance room and I realized it was from the air freshener. Sometimes my kids eyes will water because of a fan which could cause a runny nose. Maybe keep a journal to see if there is anything else that could be triggering it. Good luck! =D
That is strange. I think it will take some detective work to get to the bottom of it. Maybe it's the position she's in when she does these two activities, or the way she breathes when she's thinking. Maybe she's allergic to the paper. Sometimes I'll open a book or newspaper and it makes my nose run a bit. Very interesting though.
I know a woman who swears he nose runs when she is nervous - for instance public speaking or performing. Maybe your daughter has something similar?
Don't believe it is psychosomatic.
May be the position of her head ( bending down when writing or struggling over which key to hit on the piano) that causes post nasal drip to be more apparent. Once she has mastered the keys and doesn't have to look down at her fingers so much -- then maybe the position changes.
Same position may be happening with doing numbers crunching.
Or as someone said allergies to paper. I'd take her to an Ear Nose and throat/allergist . See if there is congestion there to begin with that becomes more noticeable in diffferent positions.
Will definitely take some detective work however!
Could be a tic. could be an allergy. could be positioning and PND. If i had to guess, I would guess a tic, as it seems like it happens with concentration. Tics often appear when someone is focusing on something. My son gets occasional tics. I wouldn't worry if it doesn't bother her, but you could pay attention to how she is sitting when it happens. Does she have this happen at other times of exposure to paper or books. But to me I would guess it is a tic. And a tic is nothing to worry about unless it interferes with something or is upsetting or disturbing to the person. And since it doesn't bother her, I wouldn't worry.
