My son is 3 and autistic and he will pick at his face until it bleeds. It started with a scab he got on his forehead after falling over and since then he just picks at his skin until it bleeds and keeps going. It’s to the point I can’t leave him for even 5 minutes without him doing this.
If I put a plaster on he does tend to leave that for a while but eventually will pull that off and pick. He doesn’t even stop when he notices blood on his hands, he keeps going.
the one on his forehead took months to heal and he had the tiniest scar there and he then went on to pick at that until it bled again!
im going to ring to make an appointment at the doctors on Monday to see if they can help but does anyone have any tips on dressings that might work? I seem to remember a liquid plaster, kind of like glue, when I was a kid but I can’t find it online other than one which gets very poor reviews. I’ve tried second skin, like you’d put over a tattoo, and he doesn’t mind that and it seems to work ok but it peels off quite easily. I was thinking maybe adhesive bandage tape but can you stick that straight over a cut? His face is covered in plasters at the minute. Literally has one on each cheek, his chin and his forehead. He has a wound under his nose which I can’t put any kind of plaster on which he keeps picking at.
I’ve cut his nails as short as possible but it doesn’t stop him and he definitely wouldn’t keep gloves on.
honestly close to putting a cat cone on him 😂