Chicken pox treatment

[Emmadufo]

Hi there

My son has chickenpox, the spots appeared yesterday and are multiplying by the second. Any advice on how to manage so they don't scar?

Many thanks

I don't think there is a lot you can do to prevent scarring... I always thought if the child scratched / picked the scabs they would scar and if left alone they wouldn't. My DD has got several big pox scars despite not scratching or picking.

My tips would be to buy calamine cream (not lotion), piriton, bicarb of soda for the bath and those bath crayons to play dot to dot with while in the bath :)

Thanks soozy

Funny you should mention bicarbonate, my mum was saying today that my granny used to recommend it too, it obviously has form!

Piriton!!!

it reduces the itching

any thing you dab on but then dries powdery like calamine, sooths initially but then makes it worse

just keep him cool and give hime piriton (really does work)

Another big vote for Piriton. Really helps with the itching.
Warning: calamine lotion may not be suitable if your DS has eczema. In desperation we used Sudocrem instead; have since heard other Mums say Sudocrem worked well for their DCs too. Letting them put it on themselves gives them something positive to do.

We used pirotin and calamine cream not lotion in DD2 and she had mild case.

For DD1 who then got a worse dose we also used sudocrem for her bum which was covered and bicarbonate of soda in the bath, she had a least 3 baths for first 3 days but it seemed to work. GP also gave us difflam (?) spray for her mouth as she had a few that were stopping her eating/drinking.

And plenty of distractions and hugs :)

Porridge in the bath - a bit mugful of the stuff in an old pair of tights, and swoosh it around to make the bath all creamy. Stops itching too.

Aqueous calamine cream is much better than the lotion.

We also found porridge baths brilliant. Fill the foot of an old pair of tights with oats and run the bath through it. You can also use the tights as a sponge. Squeeze it and lots of juice comes out. V effective at soothing the skin.

DD didn't pick her scabs but has awful scars. She had terrible spots though, at least 150 just on her face and scalp.

wow, have never heard the porridge suggestion, thanks all!

DS2 had it the other week and we used calamine lotion on recommendation from GP. It worked really well and he never scratched them. DS1 has it now and we're doing the same.

Virasoothe gel from Boots is made specifically for this. Really works. DS was plastered in spots at 14 months and I was worried he'd itch badly and scar. This seemed to take the itch away. I did use piriton at night too.

Thanks for this advice, my DS1 (5) currently in the throes. All over his bits as well, which is the worst bit. A bit worrying really...

Anyone any experiences re siblings? I have 3 year old twin DSs and a family wedding four weeks away. DS1 got symptoms Sat morning, and nothing yet on the twins. I am optimistically hoping they either a) get it now and then it's done, or b) if they don't get it assume they aren't going to get it 3 weeks down the line as 'if they were going to get it they would have had it by then'

Am I being mad? Has anyone's DCs got it with such a delay?

Urban it's taken 2 weeks for DS1 to come out in spots after DS2 had it. Apparently that's quite common for it to take 10-14 days.

Oh bollocks.

Adds that to worry list

DD caught it from nursery. Nearly 3 weeks after everybody else.