The dreaded Chickenpox seems to be doing the rounds again and despite being exposed to it, Sebastian has yet to pick it up.
Chickenpox is a common illness that mainly affects children and causes an itchy, spotty rash with the symptoms starting one to three weeks after becoming infected.
The main symptom is a rash that develops in three stages:
- spots – red raised spots develop on the face or chest before spreading to other parts of the body
- blisters – over the next few hours or the following day, very itchy fluid-filled blisters develop on top of the spots
- scabs and crusts – after a further few days, the blisters dry out and scab over to form a crust; the crusts then gradually fall off by themselves over the next week or two
Chickenpox is contagious until all the blisters have scabbed over, which usually happens about five or six days after the rash appeared.
I have been looking back at when Eliza and Isaac had chickenpox. Eliza caught it first and had a very mild case but poor Isaac suffered really badly and had a blanket of spots across his torso.
When I was young I remembered being smothered in calamine lotion when I suffered, but thankfully treatments have moved on since then and when Isaac and Eliza had chickenpox, I used Care Virasoothe to help beat the itch and I recommend it whenever any of my pre-schoolers come down with it.
Care ViraSoothe Chickenpox Relief Cooling Gel is clinically proven to help relieve the irritating symptoms of chickenpox by cooling the skin and thereby relieving itching and now also comes in a handy spray gel too which provides quicker application, wider coverage and less touch.
Care ViraSoothe helps break the ITCH-SCRATCH-INFECTION cycle and also protects the skin’s environment, allowing the skin to heal naturally helping reduce long-term scarring. In fact, both Isaac and Eliza escaped with no scars at all.
The product utilises a unique osmotic action – drawing water from the dermis (lower level of the skin) into the epidermis (upper level of the skin) which creates a cooling effect as it then evaporates which relieves the irritation.
Care ViraSoothe is non-messy, can be easily applied all over the body and face and is suitable for children over 6 months of age. It should be applied 2-3 times a day, or whenever relief is needed.
Check out this handy chickenpox advice video with Dr Sarah Jarvis.
My tips about treating a child with chickenpox are:
- Use Care Virasoothe to calm the itch and protect the skin
- Keep your child hydrated with plenty of water to drink
- Add Bicarbonate of Soda to their bath which also helps to stop the itch
- Lavender Oil for those pesky spots that are hidden in the hair. Be careful not to get it on healthy skin though.
- Use a paracetamol solution to bring down any temperature
If your child is suffering badly or you think their spots may be infected, do seek medical advice straight away.
Disclaimer: This post is written in collaboration with Virasoothe. All thoughts and opinions are my own