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My mom is 89 years old and living with Alzheimer's disease, she recently had an upper GI bleed, but is doing good. She now has a heel sore which is being treated. The other day I noticed that she is hitting herself. I try to evaluate everything she might be going through, she is no longer able to communicate what she's feeling. Has anyone else dealt with this issue?

Where is she hitting herself and how long does she do this?
It might be something that she has done in the past. If she is hitting her head did she do this before as a way to say "Oh my I forgot..." and hit her head at the same time she is saying it?
Or If she has a cramp she may hit it thinking it will loosen the cramp.
Sometimes I get an itch and hitting the area seems to do more to abate the itch than scratching.
If it is an area where she is having pain it might be her way to try to relieve the pain.

You can try to give her something to do with her hands so that they are busy and she will not hurt herself.
Unless you discover why she does this or she stops on her own it may come to putting mittens on her so that she will not harm herself.
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Reply to Grandma1954
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Self-injurious behavior seems to be part of the repetitive behaviors seen with dementia/Alzheimer's, but can also indicate pain. Since mom cannot communicate, it can be hard to determine if she's hurting. Here is a link to some good info on that subject from the Mayo Clinic:

https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/dementia-related-pain-and-caregivers

As far as heel sores go, you can get her waffle boots on Amazon for when shes sleeping to prevent that from happening again. If you have hospice coming in, they can bring a pair to mom as they did for my mother when she became bedridden.

Best of luck with a difficult situation.
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Reply to lealonnie1
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Lilliesm Aug 8, 2025
Thanks for the response;I have the sherpa boot for her heel. The podiatrist prescribed an antibiotic ointment for it, I pray that it works.
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This needs to be discussed with the doctor. There may need to be adjustment in meds or a try at meds. This is much more common in mentally ill patients than in dementia, in my experience. Discuss with the doc.
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Reply to AlvaDeer
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Lilliesm Aug 8, 2025
Thanks, I plan to do that ASAP. She's usually really calm,there are no new meds, but I've had to ask for help in the past to adjust her needs, that did help. Again, thanks for the response and support.
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