Possibly the only illness that you want your children to get…but at the same time totally dread it’s arrival.

Poppy got it recently and was taken down hard and I was totally unprepared. Luckily friends came to the rescue with great recommendations for treatments so I thought I’d share with you what worked to get you through the worst.

Treatments

Calamine Lotion

We started off using traditional Calamine lotion straight from the fridge to soothe the itch. I found it wasn’t really very effective at stopping the itch for anything longer than half an hour which meant night time was just horrendous.

Paracetamol

The symptoms vary hugely and Poppy’s came coupled with flu-like symptoms of aching, exhaustion, snotty nose, ear ache, temp, nausea etc. She also experienced pain from the spots inside her ears, mouth and other areas. The only way to treat any symptoms like this is with Paracetamol suspension i.e. Calpol. I’ve put those bits in bold as administering Ibruprofen based medicines to someone suffering from the chicken pox virus can increase the risk of serious skin infection called necrotising fasciitis.

Poxclin

Poxclin mousse was recommended to us by a few friends and did a much better job at relieving the itch for longer. It also contains an ingredient that helps to reduce the chances of infections in the spots which can cause scaring as well as promoting healing. Poppy much preferred this to the application of the Calamine lotion and I noticed a marked reduction in my requests for her to stop itching! I bought mine from amazon at 9pm and they delivered it at 9am the next day, total lifesavers!!

Antihistamine

Liquid antihistamine administered orally can also help to reduce the itch. We gave Cetirizine Hydrochloride to Poppy before bed and saw a marked improvement in her sleep-itching.

Oat bath

Last but certainly not least, in fact, I think this was the most effective treatment! Pop a couple of handfuls into a muslin square or old sock, tie it up and let it soak in the warm bath water for a little while then soak your little one in the bath for 15-20 minutes. I removed any flannels or sponges from the bath before she got in to remove the temptation to wash herself with them and potentially irritate or pop the blisters. Then patted her dry with a soft and clean towel. We didn’t do this until a couple of days in and wished we’d done it earlier. It majorly helped with the itching plus her skin was super soft and hair super shiny afterwards! Think I might try it 🙂