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My mother was a picker as well. She once had surgery to remove a mole/wart and when I dropped her off at her apartment, she picked at it (and denied she had) to the point where it bled so badly she got so scared she called 9-1-1. The doctor gave her a mild anti-anxiety Med and it was a lot better.
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Oh dear, this is a difficult problem, and so frustrating for you.

One thing you can do differently is give up trying to explain to your mother. Even if in the moment, when you tell her it's a mole and not a flea, she accepts that she is not going to retain the information. Minutes later she'll be at it again, and you will end up going round the twist. I should save your breath.

If you were to give her some nice, light body lotion and help her smooth it on to the places that are bothering her, might that help? Try getting her to stroke rather than pick, perhaps.
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A friend of mine said that his doctor called them 'senile warts'. My doctor has a less memorable but kinder term. Would giving them a name perhaps help her to think of them differently?
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LaQuit Jun 2019
Thanks😊
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Moles or warts? Moles are little nobbles, usually dark and there as a child. The 'senile warts' are pale and flat and come as you age. My guess is that many of us are starting to get them. If your mother is now getting the age related ones for the first time, it might explain why she thinks they are something else like fleas.
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Oh dear. That’s a tough one. Maybe put long sleeves on when possible so she doesn’t notice them. Or the little round bandaids. Although she migh pull those off too.
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LaQuit Jun 2019
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This is an anxiety problem. No matter what you tell her she is going to think they are fleas. Ask her dr. if there is something u can give her.
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LaQuit Jun 2019
Yes the doctor said it’s a anxiety problem . The doctor prescribes an an anxiety pill for her at bed time, but she’s staying up all night she may fall asleep around 3am. She been on this pill for a week so maybe when this anxiety pill gets into her system, she might stop thinking her moles and age spots are not fleas. The name of the anxiety pill is Mirtazapine. I sure hope it will calm my mom down because I am so tired of staying up late trying to tell her she doesn’t have fleas on her.
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