Help gratefully recieved!

[Robot2904]

Hi all,
I'm after a little advice if anyone can give me some I'd be very grateful. I'm a caregiver and one-off my clients has dementia. A little bit about him, he's 93 and was a spitfire pilot in the war. Coming out of the dives there was some g force which made the pilot and others pass out. When they come round they found they all suffered with nose bleeds. Fast forward 70 years to know, he still suffers from these nose bleeds. He's had it cauterised a few times. Well the last few months or so he's been showing signs of odd tics. He rubs his forehead, pics his nose to the point where it bleeds, spits everywhere in the house and outside and keeps licking a tissue. He goes through a box of tissues every couple of days as well as hankies. My question is. How do I stop him from doing these? I've tried to say it's dirty to spit, he's not bothered about it. I say to him the Drs have said if he carries on picking his nose he will end up with being admitted to hospital because of the amount of blood he looses each time he has a nose bleed. It's as if it's now a habitual thing. How can I help him? Thanks in advance. Rob

 

[Cat27]

Welcome to TP Rob

I suggest you speak to his GP & ask the GP to spell out to him how important it is to stop picking. Sometimes they listen to a voice of authority rather than us who do the caring.

 

[Bod]

Get him checked for an infection.
That can cause strange effects.
Best I can think of.

Bod

 

[Suzanna1969]

When I was a kid I used to pick at my scabs out of habit. My Mum told me I'd get impetigo if I carried on, that generation is very big on using impetigo as a scare tactic (and if you Google images of it you'll understand why! ) so maybe try that? I'm still terrified of messing about with scabs in case I get impetigo and I'm 46 now!

The nose bleeds caused by his constant picking will surely be unrelated to the nosebleeds he experienced during the war which would have been caused by the drastic change in altitude. Does he get nosebleeds if he doesn't pick? They will be two separate issues I think. I guess it's a combination of boredom and fixation, he probably picked dried blood out of his nose years back after a bleed and he's used to doing that. Distraction is probably the best way of getting him to stop if the threat of impetigo doesn't work.

If he still lucid and able to talk about his time in the war? He must have some truly fascinating stories. My brother would be ga-ga listening to him! If he is still able to relate his tales could you record them? Either way it might stop him picking...

Not sure what to say about the spitting. Could you get him a spittoon? I'm wondering if the picking is causing a taste of blood in his saliva, stopping one may well help the other.