LO doesn't want to be touched

BookBuffBex

My mom doesn't like anyone touching her anymore. She will allow a hug, but doesn't initiate contact anymore. If anyone reaches for her or touches her, whether to help or just casual contact (even if it's accidental) she gets aggravated. Is this part of the brain misfiring/not working that she has become so sensitive to touch? Is this normal with age and thinning skin or more specific to dementia/Alzheimer's? TIA

terei

I would suspect dementia related

Emily 123

I agree with terei. I think I read somewhere that showers start being avoided because it's a tactile overload, so might be something like that.

Smilescountry

There is a lot of information out there about this that is very helpful. Teepa Snow is just one person with lots of videos, and here is one of hers that might help you regarding this. This video gives you the "why." There are other ones that tell you how to approach someone who might not like to be touched, even for showers or baths. I don't have them bookmarked, but they are really good! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkRvK26bkTQ&list=PLVl8vTLjje8Fs309NgA8kn_yOE9h6O2Tq&index=1

DTSbuddy

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/67520/lo-doesnt-want-to-be-touched

Maybe she doesn't recognize people. In the evening especially, my LO sometimes gets disoriented, he forgets who I am and where he is, so my touching him can feel like a stranger being instrusive. It helps if I say 'Look at me." and get eye contact, and tell him I love him and we live together, and ask if I can kiss his cheek. That seems to jog his memory, and he smiles and hugs me.

harshedbuzz

It could be a mix of both cognitive and sensory issues.

Specific to cognition, the aggravation from being helped could be related to anosognosia where she is unable to recognize that she requires assistance of any kind. It could also be related to a loss of empathy (which is distinct from sympathy) if she can't mentally put herself in the shoes of the person who brushed against her and can only assume it was intentional. And it could be confusion about who the people touching her are. Sadly, it's not uncommon for women in the later stages of dementia to react to a spouse or adult child assisting in intimate care like bathing or toileting as if they're being sexually assaulted.

That said, most of the PWD I knew did develop some sensory integration issues and defensiveness in the later part of the disease. Dad, especially, was troubled by noise, bright light and crisp textures against his skin. My sister, who developed dementia in the months before she died of complications of AIDS, struggled with real pain on being touched. She craved touch, but hugs or even sitting touching were too much. Her doctor went as far as to describe it as neuropathy.

HB