Getting Through Chicken Pox with ViraSoothe*

Remember I mentioned that Little Miss had chicken pox over Easter and I was going to write about it, well here we go.

As a parent one of the of childhood viruses you’re constantly on the look out for is the chicken pox. Every parent wants their child to get it but at the same time, they dread it because the amount of work can be daunting. I vaguely remember having chicken pox as a child. I was 7 or 8 and I remember my cheeks being bright red and itchy. I also remember the week off school and the fact we watched ET for the first time.

LM fell ill on the Tuesday night. She kept napping and didn’t want her tea. I just thought she was tired from being in Newcastle but then low and behold on Wednesday morning the dreaded spots had appeared. In hindsight her spots shouldn’t have caused alarm like they did. She ended up getting the virus mild. I could have counted the amount of spots she had and it was nothing like how I built it up in my head but none the less, it wasn’t pleasant for her especially.

So here are some of the things I learnt about chicken pox and how to survive them;

You cannot get shingles from chicken pox
First things first, my dad was totally paranoid he was going to get shingles (his best friend had them and 3 years on still struggles with the side affects) but after research it turns out you cannot get shingles from chicken pox but you can get chicken pox from shingles. They’re both caused by the same virus but for some reason you can only catch them one way and not the other. You can get shingles from someone else with shingles (and obviously chicken pox from chicken pox) so stay clear as shingles is so much worse than chicken pox.

Always use Calpol NOT Ibuprofen Syrup
I cannot stress this enough, do not use Ibuprofen syrup to easy the temperature of a child with chicken pox. It’s incredibly dangerous and research has shown it increases the chance of a secondary infection that can lead to hospital stays and worst case scenario, death. It’s an anti inflammatory and for some reason it doesn’t go well with the virus. Just stick to calpol for controlling temperatures associated with chicken pox.

Loads of Bath Time
At the height of her chicken pox LM took two baths a day. Just warm water baths with the iPad propped on my dressing table stool so she could watch My Little Pony on Netflix. She didn’t want to play and I didn’t wash her hair as she had spots on her head and I was worried the shampoo would irritate them. The cool water soothed the spots and stopped them itching. I’m pretty sure it also helped to move from the blister stage to the scab stage.

Invest in ViraSoothe
On the first day I sent my mum out to get something especially for chicken pox. She wasn’t really itching but as LM is a natural born pick I knew I needed to apply something eventually when the blisters start turning to scabs (the most itchy of times). She came back with ViraSoothe and it was an absolute God send. ViraSoothe helps to cool and soothe the distressing symptoms of chickenpox it is specifically formulated to break the itch, scratch, infection cycle by rapidly calming the persistent itch. I remember my mum dabbing calamine lotion all over my spots as a kid and it was such a horrible thing to go through however ViraSoothe has a spray which means that this distressing time of application is over in a few moments. I cannot recommend this stuff enough.

I can also say, almost a month on LM has very few marks left. I continued to apply the ViraSoothe even after she was no longer contagious to some of the bigger spots as it helps reduce the chance of scarring too. It’s quite pricey compared to calamine lotion and we did go through more than one but it was totally worth it for the relief it brought Little Miss. Ask your pharmacist for Care ViraSoothe, £5.73 (50g Gel).

Keep Them Distracted (and let them sleep)
In the first few days LM slept a lot and I just let her, if she’s sleeping she’s not scratching or moaning. But when she was awake I tried to keep her as busy as possible. We went ahead with our Easter party. My dad bought her a colouring book and some new pens. She watched a lot of Netflix in my bed and played games on my iPad which isn’t something I let her do very often but I knew it was important to keep her busy.

For Itching Hayfever Syrup Works
Every morning after her bath and night before bed I gave her 2.5mls of Piriton which helped with the itching. She barely itched at all and I definitely put it down to this syrup, the ViraSoothe and the baths. It also made her slightly drowsy which was great at night when she was lying in the sheets which could have irritated her spots. I don’t ever promote making your kids drowsy with medication but I knew if she could have a good nights sleep it would help her battle the virus.

Don’t Forget
They’re contagious while all the spots are “wet” and although you might have been one of the parents desperate for your kid to have chicken pox not all parents feel the same! Chicken Pox is worse for those in early or late pregnancy and with compromised immune systems. It’s also not pleasant for little babies. Chicken Pox is actually most contagious 2 days prior to the spots coming out and has an up to 20 days incubation period. My nephew didn’t come down with Chicken Pox until 2 weeks after LM’s first day with the spots!

For me the most stressful part was how close LM got it to our Disneyland Paris trip. Most airlines will not let you fly while you Chicken Pox. The day before we flew I had to take LM to the doctors for a full physical and thankfully she was classed as no longer contagious. We were given a doctors note to confirm this in case the airline asked. If we hadn’t been able to get this we would have had to cancel! I wouldn’t have even risked it if there was a chance she was contagious as you just don’t know who’s going to be on your flight.

I’m so glad she’s had them now and for the most part once you’ve had chicken pox you are very unlikely to get them again. So our next holiday at least that’s one less thing to stress about!