Mom's short-term memory is gone. Most of the time it is not much more than a few minutes, I (her son) have been her main care giver for the last 18 months. she broke her hip and never fully recovered mentally from the anesthesia. she is doing pretty good and hasn't had much change in her condition. I know this is a blessing and hope it continues this way. the problem is that she itched a sore on the top of her head. she has been in a never-ending cycle of scratching the scab off, bleeding and dobbing the blood with a Kleenex, letting it scab over again, it starts to itch so she picks the scab off and around we go again. it does no good to try to get her to stop. she knows it is bad for her to pick it as evidenced by her pulling her hand away when we look at her picking it. she promises every time that she will stop "this time" and a minute later she is at it again. I can’t restrain her hands for the obvious reasons. we tried trimming her nails short, nope. tried putting different things over her hand, nope. tried putting some things on her head, nope. I can’t be the only one in this situation. I’ll try anything to get her to stop. I am very lucky that this is the worse problem we have had to this point and have made every effort to solve this myself. I hope I don't sound like I'm whining but I kind of feel like I am.
My husband developed a chronic fungal condition on his scalp after a stroke. His scalp became very dry and he picked at the little bumps that were developing. We tried all kinds of shampoos and lotions - finally went to a Dermatologist who diagnosed and prescribed a RX lotion we apply to his scalp 2X a day and also a RX shampoo. Problem solved.
https://www.agingcare.com/discussions/skin-picking-with-dementiaalzheimers-how-to-stop-it-without-drugs-479144.htm?orderby=recent
I also recommend Dermoplast spray. It's got an anesthetic in it to numb moms head wound area to prevent itching. Unless the picking is now an OCD habit, she may stop picking it if it doesn't itch. There are also Benadryl itch creams available OTC.
Dermoplast is the only thing that worked when my mother had a "bad rash" nobody but she could see. The doc tried at least 10 different meds to no avail. So one day in a fit of pique I went to Walgreens, bought the Dermoplast, drove over to the AL, and sprayed it all over moms invisible rash. Lo and behold, it finally stopped itching by the grace of God.
Good luck to you.
It heals things much faster than Neosporin.
Melaleuca Honey itself is very sticky.
CVS sells a Melaleuca cream that's much more user friendly.
I use it on places my wife starts picking at and it heals quickly,
usually within three days, sometimes just a day or two.
What you mom is displaying is an OCD behavior which is very common with folks with dementia. There are medications that can help with her OCD behaviors so I would most certainly talk to her doctor about putting her on one of them.
Best wishes in getting this figured out.
Because this is a problem if a non-healing sore.
It may need to be kind of "frozen off" by the MD.
Most sores heal even if picked at continuously. Witness your little grand out there picking scabs constantly. It heals anyway.
The fact this is itchy means it is bothersome. Should be seen by her doc to skin doc.
Good luck.