Chickenpox is a contagious disease that happens due to the varicella-zoster virus. It causes itchy, red, wet blisters all over the body and sometimes inside the mouth too. It is a very uncomfortable condition that mainly affects children. However, chickenpox in adults is not uncommon either.
Whether you have chickenpox or you are taking care of a child who does, you will need to know about the effective ways in which the symptoms can improve faster. Take a look at this article to know all about that.
Top 10 symptoms of chicken pox
1. Fever
2. Body Cramps
3. Rashes
4. Itching
5. Sore in mouth
6. Fluid- filled blisters
7. Fatigue
8. Headache
9. Crusts and scabs
10. Loss of muscle coordination
List of 10 Effective Home Remedies to treat chickenpox
Here are some of the handiest tips that would help you to lower the discomfort of chickenpox. Also, give them a try and see the symptoms disappear at a faster rate:
1. Wear Mittens
As mentioned above, chickenpox causes severe itching. But when itched, the blister erupts and that can lead to contamination and further spread of the infection. Also, the skin can break and cause ulcers which can become a big problem. So discourage your child from scratching.
Help him by trimming his fingernails and also by making him wear mittens. At times, the itching happens involuntarily, so keeping the nails covered helps. This can also be followed by an adult who has chickenpox.
2. Apply Calamine Lotion
Calamine lotion really helps to stop the itching so it is a widely recommended chickenpox medicine.
Calamine cools down the skin and also helps the blisters to dry out sooner. This is an effective and age-old chickenpox treatment that shows wonderful results.
3. Eat Bland, Cold Food
The body is healing and so you need to assist it by eating nutritious food. Also, stay away from oily and spicy food as that may heat up the body and make the symptoms more uncomfortable.
Eating bland and cold food helps as such food is easier to chew and swallow, especially if there are blisters inside the mouth.
4. Have ice chips or popsicles
When your child has many blisters in the mouth and on the throat, having ice chips or popsicles can bring relief.
Offer your child some cold treats to get relief from the itching and oral discomfort. Adults affected by chickenpox can also try this out.
5. Take an oatmeal bath
Oatmeal has soothing properties, so you can apply oatmeal to your body when you have chickenpox. You can also do the same for your kids.
Apart from rubbing oatmeal onto the skin directly, you can mix a handful of oatmeal into a bucket of lukewarm water and bathe with that. This bath can be given to babies as young as three months old as it is very safe and effective,
6. Take a soda bath
Another handy home chickenpox treatment is bathing in soda water. Mix about half a cup of baking soda into a large bucket of lukewarm water.
Bathe the child or yourself in that water and you will get instant relief from the itching. The soda bath also helps to dry out the blisters and this makes the chickenpox go away at a faster rate.
7. Administer antihistamine medicines
If you search for the chickenpox medicine name, you will most likely find that chicken pox antihistamine helps to bring relief to small kids. You can give them an antihistamine syrup or some antihistamine pills, based on how old the children are.
Also, you can administer lotions that contain an antihistamine, as the drug helps to treat the symptoms of chickenpox and quicken up the healing process.
8. Give fever medicines
If your child has a high fever, give him regular fever medicine such as paracetamol. The fever medicine will also help reduce the pain associated with chickenpox.
It is very important to remember that you need to speak to your doctor before you give any chickenpox medicine to your child. Call the doctor and confirm the medicine and the dosage and then give it to the child.
9. Stay quarantined
As stated, chickenpox is highly contagious. This is why you need to stay quarantined along with your entire family when any member has chickenpox.
This is for kids and also is a part of the chickenpox treatment for adults.
10. Get vaccinated
Give your children the chickenpox vaccine to protect them from future outbreaks of this illness.
Follow these guidelines and you will get effective relief from chickenpox. However, if the symptoms don’t go away within a week, or you notice your child is getting very sick, speak to the doctor right away. Visiting a clinic or hospital may not be a great idea, so speak to your doctor on the phone and follow his advice closely.
Conclusion
Chickenpox is a common disease and it seldom causes any long-term side effects or other health issues. It, however, is a very contagious and uncomfortable illness so you have to be very patient while the body recuperates from the disease. Follow all the points mentioned above and your child (or you) will be totally fine very soon.
