Chicken pox is not a particularly dangerous disease. In fact, before the vaccine was invented in 1995 it was assumed that practically every child in America would get it at some point in their life, due to the fact that it’s extremely contagious. Let’s look at the symptoms of chicken pox, and how you’re going to want to treat them.
So, when is chicken pox contagious? It’s actually contagious before the first symptoms even show up! Part of the reason that it spreads so easily is that someone who is infected actually becomes contagious a few days before any of the physical symptoms show up. In a way, being contagious is the first symptom you’ll have.
After a few days of that is when the discomfort shows up. The symptom everyone know about are the pox themselves – the small red boils that pop up all over the body. These pox are itchy, and the entire disease makes you feel extremely uncomfortable overall, like you want to jump out of your skin. In most cases this lasts for no longer than a week, after which they will scab up and eventually disappear.
When it comes to treating chicken pox, there’s little you can do other than make the person as comfortable as possible. Your best friend will be tylenol or some other painkiller, something to take as much edge off the itchy feeling as possible. It’s important to prevent yourself or your child from scratching the chicken pox, as scratching can lead to permanent scarring after they heal. Other treatments that are effective at reducing the uncomfortable feeling include oatmeal baths and plenty of calamine lotion. Oatmeal baths are soothing, but make sure you run the oatmeal through a nylon sock or something, to keep it from plugging up the drain.
The chicken pox are annoying, but usually aren’t too hard to get rid of. A little patience will go a long way.
What are Your Views on This? Leave a Comment