What do you do when your mom believes there are insects on her?

My mother thinks there is "grit" growing in her hair & she must scratch it out to keep it from growing down in to her eyes. She has scratched a lot of her hair out. At one time she was sure there was a piece of plastic growing out of her right elbow.

I am reading a book " A Care Givers Guide to Lewy Body Dementia". I have learned that hallucinations are also a symptom of lewy body dementia.

JeanneGibbs is right. It is best not to argue or try to convince your mother that the insects are not there. They are very real to her. When my mom starts her scratching I distract her with a cup of ice cream (her favorite) or something else that involves using her hands.
The book I am reading has some very good information about different meds & their effect. But if you have not already had her evaluated that would be a good first step.

Yes, hallucinations and paranoia are a part of Alzheimer's. If you go to the alz website you can read about the 7 stages of Alzheimer's.

Depending upon the medicine your loved one is taking, you may want to take them to their neurologist to have their medicine checked. My mom has accused me of not going to feed her and she had eaten just an hour and half before that. It surprised the daylights out of me because we are not that far into Alzheimer's but I guess it can be a hit and miss.

You need to speak with the doctor and they may need to give her an anxiety drug.
My mother did the same and then would scratch herself trying to get them off.
We moved her to a place where she received more interaction and this helped also.
The doctor might suggest a visit with a neurologist.

You can't argue or reason her out of a delusion, but maybe you can give her some comfort by going along with her. Buy a brand of body lotion she hasn't used before, tell her you looked it up on the internet and this is the best thing to repel insects. If nothing else a nice lotion rub ought to be soothing and it should comfort her to know you are trying to help her.

As NancyH suggests, I'd also mention this delusion to her doctor.

That does sound like the paranoia etc that goes along with Alz. Have you asked someone in the asst. living where she lives about this? They should have an RN on staff I would think. That's where I would start, then I'd be asking her doctor. Maybe they can increase or decrease whatever meds she's on to help.