My Kid is a Damn Nutter

[Clodfobble]

Originally Posted by Spexxvet

When I was young, I scratched mosquito bites til they bled, then picked the scabs, because it relieved the itch. Not only do bites itch, but healing itches. I wonder if she was not expressing herself accurately, and meant that she wants to stop the itching.

I picked at my scabs too, though only from injuries that scabbed over themselves, I didn't claw at mosquito bites until there was a scab. The problem is that after the scab is off, she keeps digging. Most of the wounds are getting bigger over time, not smaller.

We did try the liquid bandage stuff. It helped in the sense that it prevented her from picking at it as much as she wanted to, but it's not feasible in the long-term because she absolutely hated having it put on, and it takes a few minutes to dry. It was a two-person job to pin all four limbs and blow on the various sites until they all dried sufficiently, which means it could only be applied once a day at best. On the upside, I have gotten her to stop picking a few times by threatening to "paint her owies" again.

At least she has figured out that she can get away with more picking on her arms and legs, if she'll just leave the one on her face alone. We also have some small hope in the fact that it's finally getting cold here, and when she has jeans and sneakers on she can't get to half her scabs all day long. She can push her long sleeves up, but if they have snug cuffs she can't get them high enough to get to the ones on her upper arms (and she hasn't figured out she could reach down through the neckhole yet.) I can live with the forearms, if she'll just let her face and her feet heal.

[glatt]

Sorry the liquid bandage didn't work well. At least it gave you threat material.

I think the key might be to avoid having a site she is tempted to pick or scratch in the first place. I'm hoping next year that if I get the Therapik I mentioned, it helps stop the cycle from starting again with my daughter. Stop those bug bites from itching in the first place and there might not be scratching.

We started the liquid bandage thing in early August, and the wounds healed for the most part by the first day of school in early September, and now, a month later, she still has multiple scars where she had dug deep holes into her skin from the picking. They look pretty bad. I hope they fade with age. She's only 13 and hopefully her skin can still regenerate a bit. She doesn't care much about her looks yet, but I know that will probably change pretty soon.