I am concerned for my brother who is currently in a nursing facility, and has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's and a couple months ago he had surgery on his foot that required six rods to be inserted to correct his problem. The rods have been removed for a while now, but my brother will not stop picking at his wounds on his foot where the surgery took place. The doctors recently removed one of his toes that had become infected. We believe the infection was a result of his constant picking at his wounds. With his Alzheimer's he doesn't understand how important it is for him not to touch his wounds on his foot. He still continues to pick at the wounds. The nurses tell us they cannot "restrict" him in anyway.
I am very concerned that if he continues to pick at his foot, he's going to get another infection. My brother keeps telling us and his nurses that he won't pick at his feet anymore, but he continues to do just that. One of the nurses tried using duct tape to cover the bandages to make it harder for him to get the bandages off. This just slowed him down a little bit. He was still able to get to his wounds.
We need to figure out a way to prevent him from picking at his wounds. He is usually doing his picking when he is alone. (I rarely see him picking at them while I am visiting him. This is probably because by my being there I have diverted his attention.)
I think we need to find a device that will cover his foot that he cannot take off on his own. Ideally, it would be one that will allow him to still walk. Perhaps it could be a light weight ankle high boot that he cannot easily remove, but yet be somewhat comfortable.
I would greatly appreciate any advice you might have for us. Also, would my brother's condition be: Body-Focused Repetitive Behavior (BFRB) known as excoriation disorder or compulsive skin picking disorder?
I think the best idea is to get him a pair of hand mitts. Go to Amazon and type in Alzheimer's mitts and a bunch of things will come up. See if one of them might be a good fit for your brother. Another idea is to get him an Alzheimer's fidget blanket. The goal is to keep him distracted and busy doing something else with his hands besides picking his feet. Of course, he can't used a fidget blanket while wearing mitts......but it might be a good thing while he's not. Etsy has a super neat denim fidget blanket for men that might work well. Check Amazon for Alzheimer's products in general.
I suppose you could get him a closed toe medical walking shoe from BraceAbility.....or a compression stocking, but not a super tight one. Just tight enough to be difficult for him to remove....then he can distract himself with fidget blankets and other cool things you find on Amazon!
I hope one of these ideas work!
When my mthr fell and broke her arm, the hospice nurses decided not to cast it because they have seen people at her stage of dementia pick off their flesh so they could get the cast off. Can't imagine the pain! That's what your dad is doing.
You need something to cover his feet so he can't see or reach them, like an Elizabethan collar for a dog. What can you come up with like that? maybe an inverted funnel over his lower leg?
It has not stopped it totally as I see a spot every now and then on her ear. But it is noticeably better. My remedy is CBD oil. Aunt gets a drop Daily.
It helps because it reduces anxiety is my theory. I will say that hers was never to the degree that your brothers is. I am really sorry he and you are dealing with this. I know it is hard to see him do this to himself. If aunt picked this aggressively I would increase the dosage. Nothing we tried before helped her. So I do understand the challenge.