Chickenpox Remedies

[MuMmaOf3littles]

My DD 2 has got chicken pox. She's had them since yesterday. Already has lots and I can still see where a lot more are waiting to erupt and come out. She also suffers from eczema so this as well is probably torture for her. To soothe her skin at the moment I've been using Epimax which is an oatmeal based lotion she uses for her eczema and it seems to be helping her a bit with this too. Does anyone have some other suggestions so I can keep her as comfortable as possible as she's definitely still going to have a few rough days yet. Tia.

Piriton for kids and calpol regularly, the Piriton calms the itch but be careful on dose.

Virasooth for the skin.

Just-warm baths with lots of bicarb in. My DD had it badly at the same age and was having several baths a day, really helped her.

Porridge oats tied up in a sock - the put it in her bath! It’s gives the skin a sort of cream coating and soothe the itching.

My gp suggested potassium permanganate. You get them st the chemist and put them in the bath. It helps dry up spots and it changes the water colour which my son thought was funny. He was 6 and really loved it but you do need to rinse/ wash the bath out afterwards otherwise it will stain it

I second @Yellow85's oatmeal bath suggestion. Tie up oats in a thin sock, or little fabric bag, put it in the bath when you start running it. Squeeze the bag to get all the oaty goodness out.

My DD pretty much stayed in the bath for a few days! It was definitely the most soothing remedy.

My DS has eczema and got it very badly too. Just watch out for them getting infected as DS ended up on antibiotics when his did. Fingers crossed it won’t happen. I used good old fashioned calamine lotion but there’s probably better stuff around now. Also the piriton is a good idea.

Keep her skin as cool as you can - naked as much as possible.
There was an interesting report in the British Medical Journal a few years ago, where they cut one arm and leg off the child’s pyjamas, then counted the number of pox vesicles on each limb. The cooler naked limbs had far fewer than the warm ones inside the sleeves.
It makes sense scientifically - the cold reduces blood flow to the skin, so fewer virus particles are delivered there.
You need to do this right from the start, and also remove all bedding except a light sheet, to be most effective.
Fewer vesicles mean less itching and less potential future scarring.