pick, pick, pick

This is kind of gross, but my dad picks. He picks any anomaly on his skin. Anything that is above the skin's surface is target. It doesn't matter if I put lotion on him every day. I don't think it has anything to do with dry skin. It's "old man skin" I tell him. So he picks, and he bleeds. His legs, arms, head, and chest all have sores. I clean them and bandage them, and sometime during the night, or just later, he takes off the bandages. Then...picks. It's a mindless activity for him. His fingers will be full of blood, the front of his shirt soaked, and he will have no idea what happened to him. There is one sore on his leg that has been there, I would guess, 5 years. Maybe longer. It almost heals, and then, you guessed it. He picks. It's the weirdest thing. My job. . . .I know I can't stop it, it is what it is, right Jean? I have a large container filled with cotton balls, Aloe Vera, Neosporin, gauze, band aids of every size, and tape. It's my daily friend to keep things clean and covered. It's all I can do. That's what I pick to do about this symptom of A.D.