Chicken pox remedies

[pilsbury]

Hi all

I've got a very itchy toddler on my hands, I've just been using calomine lotion so far but are there any other things people would recommend? Main obviously is to stop the itching, but also to get the spots healed ASAP as we are supposed to be going on holiday a week tomorrow!

Cheers

[oimissus]

piriton and gel - the gel is better than calamine, though I can't remember why! Also, I can't remember what it's called (sorry, not the most helpful post) but the pharmacist will know. I don't think anything helps heal the spots, they just do that in their own time.

[katgod]

Yes calamine cream, not lotion. Thicker, less drying.

[Pickle]

Piriton will solve most of the itching. I got a special chicken pox specific gel from the pharmacy on Forest Hill Rd when my girls had it before Xmas. You will be fine to go away in a week - the spots will still be there, but not contagious.

[Bellenden_Mum]

we used Virasoothe gel. That might be the gel people as referring too? It is quite expensive (about ?8), but is more effective as it doesn't try out on the skin.

Oatmeal baths help to relieve the itching as well. Just put half a cup of porridge oats into an old muslin, or an old pair of tights and then run the bath leaving the oats to soak. There are guides on you-tube you can look at. It makes a bit of a mess, but as a side effect it made my son's skin very smooth!

Good luck - my baby had chicken pox over Christmas, so I know how nasty it can be.

[Sonners]

A friend recommended PoxClin Cool Mousse to me when my daughter had chicken pox recently. http://www.boots.com/en/PoxClin-CoolMousse_120395/ She wasn't very itchy but I found this was absorbed very quickly and was WAY easier to apply than calamine!

You should be fine going away, your toddler is no longer infectious after the last blister has scabbed over and that's usually 5-7 days after the spots first appear.

[fl0wer]

A generous handful of salt in daily bath water gets the spots healing up quickly.

Also keep your toddler's fingernails trimmed, so that scratching does less harm.

[jennyh]

We did a combination of oatmeal baths, coconut oil (from health matters) and calendula cream. The coconut oil was very soothing I think. Didn't use a huge amount of calamine cream but def lots of piriton. My daughter had tonnes on her scalp and so we went out in the wind and she got blown around a bit and the wind was really soothing and cooling I think.

[Strawbs]

I kept the below from when my son had it :

>

>> 1. Vira soothe cream. It's amazing! It's a clear gel, soaks in mega fast and it lasts a few hours (3 and counting so far)

>> 2. Eurax cream. Last 3 hours.

>> 3. Callamine. Haven't seen much use out of this other than you can reapply as often as you like and he seems to like it being applied.

>> 4. Nurofen for the temp.

>> 5. Warm baths with half a container of bi carb soda (he loves these, hysterically crying out of bath, as soon as he hits the water he is happily playing.

>> 6. Bi carb soda and a little water to form a paste and apply liberally. This will help dry up the blisters. As soon as blisters have dried up the itchiness reduces dramatically.

>> 7. Heating on and baby just in a nappy during the day.

>> 8. 100% cotton pjs

>> 9. Plenty of fluids even if it's a bottle as Toby is properly off his food as he has them in his mouth.

>> 10. No soap or shampoo if in their hair.

>>

>> Hope that helps x

Sent from my iPhone

[pilsbury]

Thank everyone, really helpful :)

[Bellenden_Mum]

Just a quick thought - I would avoid Neurofen to control temp, as it contains Ibuprofen and there is a risk of spots becoming infected if Ibuprofen is given. Goggle the technical explaination if you're interested!

[simonethebeaver]

Just reviving this thread. I have an extremely miserable two year old with chicken pox. She isn't too itchy but just in a lot of pain from her spots. She rarely lets us near her with the Virasoothe, screams in pain in the bath, can barely be touched, and is feverish without Calpol, which she will only take occasionally. She is waking in the night because moving lying down causes her so much discomfort. Poor mite. The GP says this is standard, and we're on day three.

Will this get better very soon? And can we put plasters over the worst of her spots, as any contact is agony? I'm guessing the answer is no, as that would stop them scabbing?

[Saffron]

Actually you don't want them to scab or dry completely. Scabbing is counterproductive to healing and can lead to scarring. Try putting the tiniest blister plasters you can find on the worst affected spots (you know the tiny round blister plasters like you put on your little toe from Scholl or Nexcare).

The idea that wounds and blisters heal better when they scab and dry is completely scientifically wrong. It's a holdover from victorian times when bandages were routinely reused and couldn't be fully sterilized.

You could also try savlon on those little round plasters. Or buy hydrocolloid sheets and cut them into tiny squares. Afix with micropore tape, which is kinder to the skin than most plasters. Remove old plasters or tape with olive oilwhich disolves the adhesive. xx

[Norfolkvillas]

Don't suppose your two year old is almost three? We found Eurax cream gave miraculous relief for hours at a stretch but it's indicated from age 3 and up.

[simonethebeaver]

Thank you, both. She's two and ten months, and the size of a four year old, so maybe the Eurax would be a goer. Although I think we may have the same problem as the Virasoothe in getting it on her.

We have Peppa plasters which may enable us to get them on her although they won't be tiny. The really bad spots are around the size of a 10p piece.

[Saffron]

How long has she been ill? CP doesn't usually produce such large blisters. I would speak to your GP to rule out other problems. Secondary infection? Complicated with eczema or another skin condition, different virus? There might be a prescription cream that would be better than otcs.

When my LO has scabs or wounds that she won't let me bandage, I do it when she falls asleep. Often she doesn't even notice the next day. xx

[simonethebeaver]

We're actually waiting in A&E now after being sent here by Seldoc. Our GP over the phone said no need for antibiotics unless they all starting joining up but the Seldoc doctors had never seen such bad sores.

[pilsbury]

Oh goodness you poor things! Hope you get seen very soon x

[ClareC]

Sounds familiar! We had this with our son last week (same age as your daughter) and our daughter two weeks before (age 4).

Both had 2 days of very high temperatures and being very ill, after that they were happy and felt well it was just the itching - neither would let us put cream of any description on the spots.

We religiously gave calpol every 6 hours, kept temperature down if spiked with cool baths and also gave them piriton. My son was particularly ill and we ended up seeing a Dr in Austria (the spots came out day one of a family ski trip). He was prescribed an antihistamine medicine that was given once a day and was magic! Worked absolute wonders and far better than piriton. We also put savlon on the spots that looked particularly angry.

Both children were really ill two days after the main spots came out.

Good luck, it's horrible but my two both turned round really quickly from the "high temperature" two days.

[ClareC]

Btw mine birth had nasty sores, to the extent it hurt them to touch them and my son couldn't walk due to the ones on the back of his leg. My daughter was given antibiotics but the Austrian dr recommended savlon for my son (who had it much worse) which did work.

Good luck x

[simonethebeaver]

Thanks. We opted not to stay in last night but to try antibiotics at home. Two attempts to get the full (enormous) dose in have failed and new sores are still appearing so I'm asking them to admit her for IV now. The sores are bleeding and enormous.

[Saffron]

simonethebeaver Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Thanks. We opted not to stay in last night but to

> try antibiotics at home. Two attempts to get the

> full (enormous) dose in have failed and new sores

> are still appearing so I'm asking them to admit

> her for IV now. The sores are bleeding and

> enormous.

That sounds like a wise decision. I hope your LO will be better soon. xx

[Saffron]

FYI, anyone reading this thread with children or friends' children who haven't yet had CP. If you want the imms - SLTC offers the vaccine at a very reasonable price. The vaccine is still highly effective if given 3-5 days after exposure; it can reduce the likelihood of outbreak and/or reduce the severity of symptoms. See the thread here: http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?29,1262769,1282503#msg-1282503

Hope all your LOs are better soon. xx

[simonethebeaver]

Today's doctor says not infected at all. I give up.

[Saffron]

Why are the spots so bad then? Did the doctor think it was just a really profound individual response? How were they quantitatively able to exclude secondary infection? They did a swab test? Or visual inspection was suitable?