Habits in Child

Constantly, constantly, constantly gently remind her when you catch her in the act and help her choose a different, self-soothing, more socially acceptable little habit. Choose a few different options. And teach that she must go and get a kleenex whenever she needs or wants to touch her nose. The act of doing that might be enough to re-route the habit.

After you rule out allergies, which you should check into, and if she does not make the transition to another chosen habit, this is to disrupt the behavior, then your motherly hunch is probably accurate, she might just have a tick. Most children will indeed outgrow them. You don't mention her age, but if she has not out grown the habit by 9-10, you might consider an evaluation by a pediatric neurologist. And most important here, make sure you video or record the ' tick' behavior as many times as possible so that a healthcare professional can observe it in case she doesn't do it in the clinic. The newness of a clinical setting is enough for any youngster to switch their focus.
Happy parenting!

It sounds like allergies.

I am the same way... not to that extent or frequency...but when my allergies are bothering me my nose constantly itches... and it itches, for me, RIGHT on the very tip of my nose!

For me, my allergies are not something hardcore... it is just to pollen or dust or cold air or anything in the air. But I don't bother getting tested for it because it does not bother me to the point that it interferes in my life and a Claritin stops it, for me.

good luck,
Susan

You don't say if she is scratching the outside..or the inside.
If it is the outside, don't worry about it.

Maybe she has anxiety.
I have recently had many anxiety issues and the Dr gave me medication for it.
It is not something I have to take daily, it is as needed.
But after realizing all the symptoms and discussing them with my Dr, I realized that I have had anxiety issues since I was a child.
Yes the anxiety was very mild and I never talked to my Mom about my feelings. And even if I had she would have just said I was nervous or shy.
I don't know if they would give your daughter anxiety medication but maybe they would suggest counseling or something.
Just a thought.
Keep us updated.

Samantha

hi-
I'm not 100% sure that a "tic" could not be ruled out, but my allergist said that one of the signs of allergies is constantly rubbing "saulting" your nose. Maybe you should talk to the pediatrician and see what he thinks (allergy verses 'tic')

good luck!

Does she have a constant irritation where she itches? If so it might be wise to follow up on it just because those things can snowball. Lots of people have full blown tic disorders (really tough stuff like shouting swears etc) but often they go untreated because the meds for it have side effects that are worse than the tics. But if you are wondering whether it's due to anxiety that would be good to know because you could address the underlying cause.
My eldest daughter has some strange tics -- she wiggles her fingers up near her face when she is intensely concentrating on something, and because she seems to do it at happy/excited times we just laugh at it, frankly we think it's kind of cute even if a little weird. But if she did it while she was trying to converse with someone, that would be different.