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Original poster

Bring out your best chicken pox remedies!

31 replies

queenofthepirates · 23/04/2012 20:07

First time mum with a first time sick baby (1yo DD), hoping you seasoned MNers will share your best remedies for chicken pox?

Home made soup?
lettuce leaves down her nappy?
Eye of newt and leg of toad?

Or just a lot of calpol?

Enough of the ?, begging your wisdom my favoured friends.

OP posts:
DoFliesHaveKnees · 23/04/2012 20:16

Seemingly Head & Shoulders shampoo is good for getting rid of the itch? Saw someone mention it on facebook last week. Recommended by nurses in hospital. Not had to use it tho, so can't say it definitely works!

viagrafalls · 23/04/2012 21:29

piriton, bicarb in the bath, collodial oatmeal cream!

viagrafalls · 23/04/2012 21:30

How do you use the Head and Shoulders - on the hair or as a bodywash? I am
intrigued..

leftmysociallifeatthedoor · 23/04/2012 21:32

Piriton helped ds.

Bicarb in the bath worked wonders on dd - she was 14 months when she got it.

mrswarthog · 23/04/2012 21:32

Piriton & Eurax cream.

leftmysociallifeatthedoor · 23/04/2012 21:33

I'm not sure I like the idea of head and shoulders and lots of chemicals on irritated skin...

DoFliesHaveKnees · 23/04/2012 21:40

No idea how it works, I wasn't very keen when I read it either. I would prob go down the route of piriton and bicarb as well to be honest!

Original poster
queenofthepirates · 23/04/2012 22:48

piriton in the bath or give tablets to the LO?

OP posts:
wonderwooman · 23/04/2012 22:50

Porridge oats tied up in a muslin/flannel and put in a bath. DS loved then being rubbed with the oat/muslin 'parcel'.

Calamine was a faff to put on.

Piriton administered to good effect!

OctopusSting · 23/04/2012 22:53

I used liquid piriton twice a day and that worked fine for DD1 who never really scratched. DD2 only had 2 doses and wasn't itchy at all. She also had calpol a couple of times for temp.

Someone has said calamine can dry the spots v quickly and make them itch more but i don;t know how true this is.

wonderwooman · 23/04/2012 22:59

I think calamine did help dry the spots more quickly and I think it did also help stop the itch - my DCs definitely found some relief after the application.

It was just the application that all of them hated... It was cold and smelly and a faff to dab on each spot. I'm sure there was a better way of doing it, but I was ignorant at the time!!!

BrandyAlexander · 23/04/2012 23:08

Here is my list which while not cheap means no itching at all:

  1. 2 doses of piriton, at 7am (gets them through the day) and 7pm (gets them throught the night).
  2. Poxclin mousse. This is magic stuff. Absolutely amazing. Use this on body. I applied 4 times a day to body.
3 Virasoothe. Also magic stuff. I applied 4 times a day to face.
  1. Aqueous cream
  2. Porridge in a pair of tights and added to bath - which had 2/3 caps of oilatum in it.
lagoonhaze · 10/05/2012 16:24

Any more ideas for a 6mo who's coping well but I'm going stir crazy being stuck in!

SquishyCinnamonSwirls · 10/05/2012 16:27

The porridge in tights thing works wonders, as does calamine cream instead of lotion as it doesn't dry it out so much. Then piriton and calpol.

sheeplikessleep · 10/05/2012 16:31

Just marking my place!
DS1 had first spots last Tuesday, but tbh it was very mild, lots of spots, but no itching.
I'm waiting for DS2 to get it over the next week. Would be good to have some ideas up my sleeve if he isn't quite so fortunate with getting a mild case!
Thanks

Tiddlyompompom · 10/05/2012 16:39

DS is the same age and has just had cpox, I covered all his bottom spots with Bepanthen before bed and they'd all healed up by the morning! This could of course just be a coincidence... Grin
He didn't seem to itch tho, the only ones that bothered him were inside his mouth.
All his spots are healed up and we get to go out tomorrow! wooo hoooo!

lagoonhaze · 10/05/2012 17:17

How long did he have it tiddly?

lagoonhaze · 10/05/2012 17:19

Does the porridge oats remove the itch or dry them up please?

Tiddlyompompom · 10/05/2012 22:55

Five days - the spots started appearing on Saturday and are mostly gone now. I don't think he had a serious dose tho, there were no spots at all on his body, just face and limbs.

Afaik the oats are soothing/moisturising, so help with the itch. DS wasn't scratchy so I didn't try it, but my SIL swears by oats for her eczema outbreaks.

DS also caught my horrid cough and cold and was/is quite miserable with that so I still Calpoled him most nights, he had a bit of a temp too.

Hope your DD feels better soon!

lagoonhaze · 11/05/2012 07:27

Thank you. 5 days gives me hope! Used the porridge oats in a bath last night. Also got a prescription for piriton.

This has come after a period of staying in after an op. I need to get out and back to normal!

kipsy · 11/05/2012 11:40

DD is on day 4 of the chicken pox. She has lots of them on her scalp, which are the worst - swollen and I cant even put cream on them.

I tried PoxClin/ViraSoothe/oats/E45/Calamine - all to NO effect. DD couldnt stand the stuff and wailed every time she saw me advancing with the "itch creams". Some children just can't stand the wetness of the cream on their spots I suppose.

Piriton works.

The best topical itch remedy I found, strangely, is gently stroking the spotty skin with a bunch of margosa leaves (neem leaves) Grin

This is a common itch remedy in India for skin rashes (where I'm from) and they've been using this for centuries. You take a bunch and gently stroke the spot-affected area (very gently, do not use it to scratch!) from top to bottom. Neem is antiseptic, very cooling and can heal the spots early.

I know, I know, it all sounds nuts, stroking with leaves is not something that sounds very scientific Hmm ... even I, having used this for myself in childhood to good effect, resisted. But I did try it yesterday and today and my DD loves it! Whew.

lagoonhaze · 13/05/2012 08:25

Thank you. Doesn't sound nuts to me. Think we can learn alot from other cultures.

But where would I find neem leaves???

kipsy · 14/05/2012 14:45

Your best bet is the Indian or Sri Lankan "cash and carry" type shops. We are in NW London - we got ours from S Harrow. Wembley or East Ham are also possible places. It's not very easy to get it if you are not near London I suppose. Hope that helps!

Piemistress · 12/06/2012 17:32

Just bumping this as DS has just been diagnosed and I am booked in for my csection with dc2 next week, argghgh! Did anybody use roux tox homeopathic stuff! One dab neat tea tree oil on the spots?

butterfingerz · 12/06/2012 22:19

Eurax worked great on my 3 yr olds super itchy chicken pox but you're not supposed to use it on under 3's.

My DS had it really bad when he was 7 months. I found frequent baths with calamine and tea tree oil healed the spots up very fast and sooths itching, like twice a day.

And a teaspoon of cod liver oil (injested, not on the skin!) its a great boost to the immunity... and a probiotic capsule (crack it open and sprinkle into his milk or cereal) as that's also good for immunity.