How to treat chicken pox

Chicken Pox has hit our house, HARD! Keep reading to see how to treat chicken pox in children.

My beautiful girl is feeling very sorry for herself and with good reason the poor little thing is covered in spots, even in her mouth!

 

What is chicken pox

Chickenpox, also known as varicella, is described as a highly contagious disease caused by an initial infection with varicella zoster virus. The disease results in a characteristic skin rash that forms small, itchy blisters, which eventually scab over.

There are three stages to the rash:

• spots – red raised spots develop on face or chest before spreading to other parts of the body.
• blisters – the spots then develop very itchy fluid-filled blisters on top of them.
• scabs – a few days after the blisters appear, they dry out and scab over to form a crust. The crusts then gradually fall off over the next week or two.

Chickenpox is highly contagious 1-2 days before the spots appear all the way through to when the last spot has scabbed over.

 

Our Experience

I first noticed a few spots on Rosalie’s neck on Tuesday morning. I thought they were a couple of scratches. Maeve’s nails were a little long and I thought she might have accidentally scratched Rosalie. Rosalie had been a little under the weather a few days before but I just presumed she had a cold. She has only been back at preschool a few weeks and I thought she must have picked up something there. By Tuesday evening she had more spots on her chest and quite a few down below. It was then that I realised there was something going on. By Wednesday morning she was covered so I took Rosalie to the doctors for a diagnosis.

They doctor confirmed that it looked like chicken pox. She advised that they do not prescribe anything to treat chicken pox and that Rosalie would just need to fight the infection on her own. The doctor advised that we should monitor Rosalie’s temperature and give her calpol if it gets too high. She advised there were a few products on the market that we could use to help combat the itchiness and discomfort of the rash.

 

What we used to treat chicken pox

The doctor said there are a number of over the counter products you can buy to help ease the symptoms of chicken pox. She advised not to use calamine lotion as she said although it does soothe the rash initially. It then dries the skin out further which can make the itchiness worse. She recommended we use a cooling gel. We settled on Clin Pox a cooling mousse and this seems to be working well. We apply it morning and night and as needed throughout the day. It offers immediate relief when applied to the effected skin, whilst also helping to stop the spots spreading.

I have also been bathing Rosalie regularly as this helps to sooth her or at least take her mind of the itchiness for a bit. We have been using Derma as we had it in the bathroom already.  Oliatum is another sooting bath milk you could use. If you wanted a natural alternative, oat baths come highly recommended.

I have been keeping an eye on Rosalie’s temperature using our forehead thermometer and administering paracetamol as needed. I have been giving Rosalie a dose of Calpol every night before bed. I have offered her a few doses throughout the day but most of the time she says she doesn’t want it. I don’t force her to have it if she doesn’t want to. As Rosalie is 3 years old she can have 7.5ml of Calpol, with 4 doses in any 24 hour period. If the itching is really bad you can administer Piriton to help calm it but I haven’t found we have needed to.

I am dressing Rosalie is loose long sleeved clothing so she is covered at all times. I want to minimise the opportunity for her to each but also ensure she doesn’t get too hot. Rosalie has been really good at not scratching her spots. She does keep saying that her spots are itchy but when she does I keep reminding her that she mustn’t itch them and we have a cuddle instead.

Rosalie has a lot of spots on her bum and bits. As this is a sensitive area I didn’t want to apply any strong creams down there. I am using sudocrem to sooth the area instead. I apply this morning and night and as needed throughout the day.

Rosalie has been so good despite not feeling very well. She isn’t particularly poorly just a little sad. Every now and then she will say her spots hurt, or that she doesn’t want her spots anymore. Every time she does say this, I ask her if she would like more cream on them and she always says no. I then ask her if she’d like some more medicine and she normally says no to that too so we have a cuddle instead.

Obviously, I am not a doctor and this is just what I am doing to treat my daughter’s chicken pox. If you are unsure about using a particular product then it is always recommended to seek a doctors or pharmacist’s advice. I always think that if in doubt you should check it out!

There is also a video on how to treat chicken pox and how I apply the clin pox cooling mouse over on my youtube channel.

 

 

 

How did you treat your little one’s chicken pox? Do you have any tips?