Something new

[Dadshelper]

When I visited dad today he was chewing on his right hand. The arm is locked mostly with the hand near the left collar bone but today the hand was shoved into the left corner of his mouth. I asked him if he knew what he was doing and he said no, not surprising I guess.

I massaged his arm and got it to lower back down some away from his mouth and told the staff about it. They are going to watch for it, last thing he needs is open wounds to get infected. He already has the beginning of a pressure sore on his heel they are tending to. He gets to wear padded feet protectors while in bed and they are putting some type of ointment to help harden the skin, I have never heard of that.

Ron

[Kevin_1]

Hi Ron

I can't help with this.

Someone posted fairly recently about chewing oneself.

My Liz chewed at the inside of her mouth. Blood was found in the morning. Not too much. She was unaware of it too. Fortunately it was a one off.

In the past she has pinched and scratched her arm. She said there was no reason other than anger and frustration.

Sorry Ron, not such a helpful post.

Best

Kevin

PS - She has never had a self harming disposition.

[LuisRodicioRodicio in reply to Kevin_1]

Hi Kevin!

Thanks for sharing.

Your comments always give some interesting ideas.

Regards to Liz.

A big hug.

Luis

[D0ttieL0ttie]

Hi.

Geoff used to chew his fingers until they bled.

I used this sight - Chewigem Tread Bracelet at Amazon.

Geoff then actually chew through the Bracelet but that phase has passed and he no longer chews himself.

You can also try the bitters used to discourage nail biting.

Hope that helps

Pam

[hubetsy]

It seems this chewing behavior is like my C,'s habit of scratching to the point of bleeding. It's almost like he starts doing something with his hands or fingers and just can't stop. He has scabs on his chest and upper left arm and left thigh (clearly using his right hand). Perseveration... This morning I found him rubbing his fingers. Taking his hand into mine, I disentangled them. He didn't know why he was rubbing them.

I wrote about this problem previously under "self mutilation" which makes it sound like it's intentional. I don't believe it is. Still, it is a challenge. Socks on his hands helped for a few nights. Now I wake up to find them removed! I wonder if socks might help for when your father's hands get within range of his mouth?

Oh these challenges! Hope you find a solution.

[Dadshelper]

Thanks. I have contacted hospice nurse about it but it's a 3 day weekend here so probably won't hear back until Tues.

Ron

[Katiebow]

Ben used to bite the inside of his mouth and got terrible mouth ulcers, looked so painful, I couldn't prevent him from doing it and tried all sorts of mess/ gels etc to clear them.

Kate xx

[rriddle]

What a curious symptom.

I've heard of this sort of "hyperorality" in frontotemporal dementia (Pick's Disease). You might do a web search on that term, and look in particular on theaftd.org.