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Original poster

Chicken pox scars

63 replies

Hartey40 · 10/10/2011 11:30

I really need to find someone in the same position as me and my family. Some of you may already know or have read threads about my dd's scars from chicken pox. And there have been a couple of mums in particular who have been very supportive.

Its now 6 months since my gorgeous daughter had this horrible disease and each day I am struggling to cope with the effects it has had

OP posts:
DeWe · 10/10/2011 12:08

My dd2 had chickenpox very badly at 6 months. She's now 7yo, and got lots of scars, including on her face. I think they're noticable, but no one else seems to notice, even when I was talking to a friend and mentioned them, she could only work out one or two places.

Original poster
Hartey40 · 10/10/2011 12:15

Thanks for replying are your dd's scars the crater type ones? My dd's are and she has about 20 or so on her face some have filled in and gone but some haven't and I think they are noticeable nobody mentions or asks me but I think they are probably been polite.

I'm finding it very distressing fortunately my dd is ok with it at the moment .

Thanks again

OP posts:
savoycabbage · 10/10/2011 12:19

My dd has a crater one on her face from when she was three and she is nearly eight. My dh has them on his arms from when he had adult chickennpox about 15 years ago.

A couple of weeks ago someone in my dd's class asked her what it was. She said it was a birth mark. I didn't say anything.

Original poster
Hartey40 · 10/10/2011 12:33

Ok thanks so I am guessing they dont really fade then? If she only had the one I would be less worried but she doesn't and her face looks horrendous especially when we are outside :(

OP posts:
savoycabbage · 10/10/2011 12:40

I don't know . My dh is black and does seem to scar easily. Have you been to see a doctor!

Original poster
Hartey40 · 10/10/2011 12:50

Yes of course we have. they is nothing they can do just have to wait it out I guess, we have seen a dermatoligist too and a plastic surgeon probably sounds a bit drastic, but if you saw her face you would understand, I haven't seen any other child scar this bad, hence why I was seeking support.

OP posts:
NellyTheElephant · 10/10/2011 13:27

I'm so sorry to see you back on here and still so concerned. I have nothing more to add, but just wanted to offer support again and reitterate what I have said before - i.e. 6 months is not actually that long for scars to heal and I'm sure that you will see a great deal of improvement with time even if they never fully disappear.

SoylentClean · 10/10/2011 13:48

My DD has two still visible on her face and they are still very angry and red, they are large too and I was mortified a few weeks ago when a mum I didn't know at a toddler group said it looked like my DD2 had cigarette burns on her face! I was Shock , Sad and Angry

Hartey do you have a photo of your DD online, if we can see the scars we might understand more what you are talking about?

NK346f2849X127d8bca260 · 10/10/2011 14:48

My oldest dd had a very large crater scar on her forehead that used to concern me ( never bothered her) and as she has got older it looks smaller and far less noticeable. I realize that your dd has alot but am wondering if, as she gets older they will look smaller.

My ds has a really bad attack of them ( hardly a pin prick between them) but we were fortunate that the ones of his face haven't scared.

Original poster
Hartey40 · 13/10/2011 14:59

Thanks everyone for your replies.....Nelly thanks for your ongoing support I really do hope they improve. No haven't got any recent pics of dd, not close up ones anyway.

We will get through this somehow.

Thanks once again

OP posts:
BerylOfLaughs · 13/10/2011 15:04

DD has a couple of scars on her face from when she had CP 3yrs ago. They have faded to skin colour but the pitting is still obvious. One seems to be improving but the other remains the same as it ever was. I've told her what they are and luckily she isn't too bothered and they don't bother me, except that I know the worst one was my fault as my watch caught the scab when in was healing and took it off. :(

Original poster
Hartey40 · 13/10/2011 17:23

Hi thanks, yes everyone told me once the redness goes they are Less noticeable however I don't think this is the case with my dd's scars infact now the red has gone you can clearly see the damage they have done to her skin, I feel for her as I know she is in for a rough time as she gets older and more aware of her looks!

OP posts:
savoycabbage · 15/10/2011 11:33

Sorry, I meant to put a question mark not an !!!!!!Blush pesky iPhone.

Anyway, I had a closer look at my dd's scar and I do think it is less obvious than it was.

savoycabbage · 15/10/2011 11:38

Also, it has no redness at all which it definitely did before, it's five years since she had them. Also, she has scars on her body. They are not craters, in fact they look like cigarette burns.

They are on her torso. The ones on her limbs have more or less faded away but not totally. I feel, but I don't know, that being exposed to the sun has faded them.

bottlebank · 15/10/2011 11:46

Hartey40 I'm sorry to hear you feel so bad about this. Without seeing your DD's face I can't really comment though my DS2 has a large scar on his forehead from chickenpox and DS3 has quite a few craters on the side of his face and many on his torso.

However, I have a very large and deep crater on my face, from a chickenpox blister which got infected when I was just a few months old. Nobody ever mentioned it apart from my mother who used to go on about how it ruined my looks Sad - I was aware of it a lot earlier than I would've been otherwise! But it did bother me because it bothered her. So I would say:

  • wait and see. Hard I know. But as her face grows, of course a scar will look smaller. In pictures of me, what is a very large crater on a baby face becomes a very small one on an adult face. Try not to let her know how you feel about them. Lots of people have scars from childhood.
  • you could try rubbing tiny amounts of bio-oil into them - I do this on DS3's torso. Can't hurt, might help.
  • comfort yourself with this - there are things you can do! I had microdermabrasion and mine has 'softened' loads. I also know someone who had terrible acne scars which have been helped loads with dermabrasion and a laser. Her scars were much worse than pox scars. She also had a dermal filler injected into one, which sounds really drastic but made a big difference.
  • none of my peers ever bullied me about mine.

I hope I've not spoken out of turn with this.

Original poster
Hartey40 · 16/10/2011 11:16

Hi bottlebank, no you haven't spoken out of turn and I totally get what you are saying. We have never made an issue out of this in front of our daughter and she does seem ok at the moment. However if they don't improve significantly it will be a problem, as like you say you haven't seen our dd's face.

Strangely despite reassurances on here it is other adults who make it difficult for us because they are not discreet and they do stare at her face and I think she is aware of this. Children do ask her about face as well, this makes all the normal activities that so many families take for granted very difficult for us.

I am aware of the many treatments available when she is older however her face is scarred in so many places it would be difficult to treat, I feel she has lost her innocent childhood as she shouldn't even be worried or aware of her face at this age!

Thankyou for replying everyone has been kind and thoughtful

OP posts:
Milliways · 16/10/2011 16:41

My DS had awful infected chicken pox at 6m old, and the scarring around his torso was so bad people kept asking what he "had" every time I took him swimming until he was about 2!

The Doctor told me it could take until he was 5 for them to go properly, and he was right - we became used to them but by 4 or 5 hardly anything was noticeable. He had a crater or 2 on his forehead but noting visible as a 16yr old apart from about 2 on his body.

Scot1 · 24/01/2021 15:18

@Hartey40 I know it’s been years now but how did your dd’s face turn out? I am going through something similar and it’s breaking my heart.

Suzie81 · 24/01/2021 20:06

It's rediculous the NHS doesn't give kids in the UK the vaccine, that's given in pretty much every other western country. The reason? Apparently to protect old people from shingles (having the virus in general circulation gives them the occasional immune system boost).

Honestly, if you can, pay to have your kids immunised.

Whiterabbit88 · 16/06/2022 11:36

Hello
@Hartey40 and @Scot1 i just wondered how things were with your children. Have the CP scars improved with time? I am so anxious about my DS, it’s making me very depressed

Scot1 · 18/06/2022 22:08

omg So much!!!! I know it’s hard but they are so tiny now as his skin has stretched yous have to squint to see them. Not deep at all. The longest one was a flat red mark that took so long to go. I stopped using lotions and potions and the red mark just vanished over a few weeks.
I know it’s hard. I was so down about it and had to seek help myself for how it made me feel which sounds crazy but it’s the truth.
a little time and patience and we found h scars natural oil helped speed things up to a certain point.

bitofawait · 19/06/2022 08:35

You could try ultrasound. You'd have to look into it doing it on her face but I don't see why not. You can buy them at argos etc or you could find a clinic but I assume she's quite young so you may struggle to find somewhere that will treat her.

Other option could be micro needling / dermarolling.

But I had a big crater one on my face as a child and it's gone, but my brother has very pitted skin from acne scars. We have different skins tones him being very pale and fair ( burns instantly) so it could be different skins recover differently.

bitofawait · 19/06/2022 08:42

The ultra sound is painless btw, the needling not.

MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 19/06/2022 08:50

What about a specific scar reducing gel treatment,not bio oil but something which contains silicone? Scarzone is very good but there are lots on the market.

Whiterabbit88 · 21/06/2022 22:19

Thankyou @Scot1 for replying and I am glad to hear you are in a better place now. I suffer from health anxiety for my son so this is just one of the latest things I am worrying about. Sometimes I think they look better and other days I don’t… I guess it will just take time. I will look into the oil you have suggested xx

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