Health Tip #5, 26 September 1996
Chicken pox is a disease that you will only get once in your lifetime, so hopefully most of you had it when you were little kids. Still, it is not at all uncommon for teenagers or adults to get the disease. In fact, I, myself, got chicken pox 2 1/2 years ago from a friend in my physiology class. I was particularly unfortunate, though, since I also had poison oak at the same time. Thus the already-weakened skin on my left arm was more susceptible, allowing 15-20 chicken pox to all cluster in one area! I passed the disease to not only my little brother, but also my mother!
Chicken pox, also known as the varicella zoster virus, usually starts with aches, mild fever, and loss of appetite, followed by the infamous rashes and then blisters which spread all over the body in 2-4 days. After the blisters break, they form scabby, crusty thingies that fall off in two weeks. This is all accompanied by severe itching, but you’re not allowed to scratch because that can cause infection and scarring! Fun, fun, fun! The disease, usually acquired from salivary contact or touching contaminated clothing, is contagious during the period of one day before the rash to six days after the first blisters. Anybody who has not had the disease or received any of the new vaccinations will get sick. In addition, as an adult, someone who once had chicken pox can possibly develop shingles (herpes zoster), a similar viral disease.
Here are some ideas that might make life more bearable for you during that fortnight of itching and scratching:
soaking in cool water or using cold compresses
bathing in lukewarm water with 1/2 to 1 cup of baking soda
calamine lotion, antihistamines, and OTC steroid creams
some doctors advise against these because of infection
acetaminophen, ibuprofen, naproxen
acyclovir or vidarabine (see your doctor)
clip your fingernails short and keep your hands very clean
gloves can keep you from doing as much damage
if you get blisters in your mouth, gargle warm salt water
colloidal oatmeal bath
Marty McFly says, Nobody calls me CHICKEN!
Sources of Information:
Applied Medical Informatics: http://www.ami-med.com/
The Doctor’s Book of Home Remedies, by Sid Kirchheimer, 1993.
The MEdIC Homepage: http://medic.med.uth.tmc.edu/home.htm
Take Care of Yourself, by Donald M. Vickery & James F. Fries, 1996.