T:Wonderful Resources for Caregivers and Family	Q:Taking care of our loved ones takes a toll,  and many need special stuff provides many things good for caregivers and patients to purchase clothing  daily living,  safety,  medical,  mobilityI hope my resources wil lhelp you	
T:Mom with Alzheimer’s,  scratching face,  ears and scalp	Q:My Mom,  who has moderate Alzheimers (diagnosed <time_period> ago at age <age>) began scratching her face,  ears and scalp in the last <time_period> and she can't seem to stop herself. It's causing a bacterial infection that has spread. Her <professional_practitioner> gave her a prescription antibiotic cream,  but the incessant scratching keeps it from doing it's job. When we discussed it with her <professional_practitioner>,  he prescribed <medicine>. That has not helped at all. When we ask her not to scratch,  she gets upset. I know she can't help it. We bought cotton gloves for her to wear,  but she keeps losing them. Other than cutting her nails very short,  does any one have any advice? I'm so afraid it could turn into a staph infection. Thanks for any advice! 	A:Is she around people when she does this? Is she in a <institution> or at home?It's tough to get an AD patient to stop a behavior and I totally understand your concern. If she is doing it when she is around people,  perhaps distraction therapy may work. For example,  when she starts scratching herself try to get her to do something else instead - my favorite is using odd materials to submerse the hands in (foam beads,  silly putty,  play-doh etc). They seem to enjoy the different textures. My Gma loved silly putty At night,  short of restraint (which I am highly opposed to) there is not much that can be done than what you already are doing.  


A:Thank you. My Mom scratches constantly. SOmetimes,  she will go to bed so she can scratch without being seen or noticed. But we haven't known what to do to distract her,  other than holding her hand or asking her not to do it. I'll get some silly putty/play doh and see if that helps. Thanks again! 


A:Gloves? you can get a velco kind to make it more difficult to take off.  


A:WE've tried gloves,  but not the velcro kind. Her <professional_practitioner> called this morning and increased her <medicine> from <num> to <num> mg per day to see if that helps. THanks for your response. I really appreciate it! 


A:I totally understand and empathize with you. My mom,  who has Alzheimer's,  takes her bridgework out. No,  nothing wrong with the fit,  we've had her at the <professional_practitioner> several times. She takes tops and bottoms out and if she's in her room well that's fine,  but she does it at the dining room table,  she's in <institution> and I don't know how the people at her table can stand it. One woman turns her chair away from my mom so she doesn't have to watch. When I'm there at meal time,  I ask mom to not do it and she just ignores me. Sometimes I can ge t her to keep her hands in her lap so at least no one sees them. For <time_period>,  my mom use to knit and crochet and she stopped <time_period> ago,  the same year she was diagnosed. I think she has simply forgotten how to do it. She also smoked at one time. I just wonder if this somehow pacifies her,  something in her hands? I've tried to give her stuffed animals. I bought her a someone to care for baby doll from the Alzheimer's store. she wants no part of any of that. She has no interest in anything. Dementia is so,  so,  so difficult <name>


A:Hi. I usually post on the anxiety forum but the title of this post caught my eye and reminded me of something I saw recently. I hope you won't think I'm just butting in. I saw a show that had a little girl about <age> who was constantly scratching at her face and had all ready caused permanent scaring. The family was asked to try giving the girl one of those big soft make up brushes and a sponge. The brush she could lightly stroke her face so she still got that physical stimulation with out hurting her self and the sponge would keep the other hand busy. It took a little while to break the habit but the parents eventually got her to stop and her face healed up. I know it would be a bit different but it probably comes from a similar response to anxiety.  best of luck
