Treat chicken pox in children with 5 easy steps

Chickenpox is a contagious disease that more often affects children. This skin disease is caused by infection with the varicella zoster virus. There is no specific drug to treat smallpox. However. There are proper treatment ways to treat the symptoms of chickenpox in children and help them recover quickly.

How to treat chicken pox in children

In treating a child who has chickenpox, you need to be aware of any health problems that may arise. Starting from the symptoms of chickenpox at the beginning that cause fever to the symptoms of a red skin rash that causes itching.

Well, even though chickenpox can subside on its own, children can feel very disturbed and uncomfortable with the symptoms of chickenpox.

In addition, if parents let chickenpox develop just like that, it can lead to the risk of complications such as bacterial infection of the skin.

The following are steps that can be taken at home to treat chickenpox in children:

1. Provide fever medicine as well as pain relievers

Before creating a fluid-filled (resilient) bump, chickenpox generally causes symptoms of high fever and pain throughout the body.

Now, to treat the early symptoms of smallpox in this child, your little one can take pain relievers such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen (paracetamol).

Paracetamol is safe for most children who are over two months of age. This medicine is also available in the form of a syrup that can be used for your babies and children who are under two years of age.

However, before giving the drug to a child, you must first consult a doctor to determine the right dose according to your little one's needs.

Do not try to treat chickenpox in children with pain relievers such as aspirin and ibuprofen in children under 16 years of age. According to the American Academt of Dermatology, this drug can cause a serious complication called Reye's syndrome.

2. Stop the habit of scratching

The itching sensation on the skin due to chickenpox is unbearable and can even interfere with children's resting time.

The problem is, children find it difficult to control themselves so as not to scratch the smallpox resilience on their skin. Even though scratching it will cause the chickenpox resilience to break open and cause open wounds.

Open wounds can be an entry point for bacterial infection, leading to complications of smallpox such as imepetigo. Not to mention, smallpox scars from scratching will be difficult to remove from the skin when chicken pox heals.

Therefore, stopping the habit of scratching is the first step to treating chickenpox in children. What are some ways you can do so that your child can stop the habit of scratching?

Routinely cut children's nails to keep them short.
Make sure your child always wash their hands with soap regularly so that their hands are always clean from germs that might infect their skin.
Don't let your child scratch and scrape the pox rash, especially on the face.
At night, children often unconsciously scratch the itchy skin, so try to wear gloves, long clothes, socks that cover the part of the skin affected by chickenpox.
The child needs to wear loose and soft clothing so that the child's skin can breathe and is not easily scratched.

3. Various ways to treat chickenpox itching in children

The more often you scratch the part of the skin that feels itchy, the stronger the itching will actually be. Well, the habit of scratching can stop by itself by eliminating or at least reducing the itching itself.

There are many ways that can be done to control the itching due to resilience of chickenpox, ranging from using natural ingredients to taking drugs. Some ways to treat itching due to chickenpox in children include:

Soak in cold water for at least 10 minutes every four hours since you first started showing symptoms of itching.
Cleanse your body or take a bath using oatmeal, then soak in the baking soda mixture for 15-20 minutes.
Apply a moisturizing cream or calamine lotion regularly after bathing to create a cool and cool feeling on the skin so as to relieve itching.
Compress the itchy skin with a cold compress or tea chamomile.
Take antihistamine drugs to reduce itching at night. Make sure you consult with your doctor to determine the correct dosage and rules of use.

To protect the resilience of smallpox from breaking, do not rub the skin with a towel too hard while drying yourself. Try to gently pat your body until the water absorbs dry into the body.

4. Pay attention to food intake

Hot body temperature, pain, and discomfort caused by the red rash will also make it difficult for the child to eat. Especially when the chickenpox resilience in children also appears in the mouth and throat. Your little one will certainly find it difficult to swallow food.

Therefore, in treating chicken pox make sure you meet the fluid needs of children by drinking lots of water to avoid dehydration. If you have babies who are actively breastfeeding, continue to breastfeed them regularly.

Water is better than sugary, fizzy, or acidic drinks. Sipping ice cubes can also be used to soothe the mouth and throat of children who are sick from chickenpox.

Avoid giving children foods that have a strong, salty, sour, or spicy taste because they can make their mouths hurt while applying this method of treating chickenpox.

Foods that are soft, smooth, and cold (such as soup, fat-free ice cream, pudding, jelly, mashed potatoes, and puree) can be the best choice when the child has chickenpox.

5. Ensure that the child gets adequate rest

In addition to fulfilling the body's fluid and nutritional needs, make sure the child also gets adequate rest.

When the child begins to show symptoms of fever followed by the appearance of a red rash, you should immediately rest the child at home to help restore the immune system.

Resting the body helps the process of regenerating white blood cells that play a role in the immune system to fight infection.

In addition, resting children at home can also be a measure to prevent transmission of chickenpox. Most cases of chickenpox occur after coming into contact with an infected person.

If your child has chickenpox, don't let him or her go back to school until the shingles rash dries up, usually about 10 days after the first symptoms appear. In this condition, the child can no longer transmit the disease to other people.

6. Go to the doctor when symptoms get worse

In cases with severe symptoms sometimes home remedies like those mentioned are not sufficient to treat chickenpox in children. Symptoms that get worse are usually indicated by:

The distribution of the rash is wider, covering almost the entire body, including the genital organs.
A high fever that doesn't gradually go down (more than 4 days) with a body temperature that can reach more than 38.8 degrees Celsius.
The itching gets worse, especially at night.
Resilient to discharge pus or yellowish fluid.
Resilience causes the affected skin to become swollen, red, warm, and feels sore.
There is a skin infection on the elastic part of chickenpox which becomes an open wound.
The child has difficulty breathing and coughs continuously.
The child experiences vomiting.

If you show symptoms like the above, the most appropriate way to treat chickenpox in children is to have it checked by a doctor.

The doctor will provide antiviral treatment with acyclovir to stop viral infection. To treat chickenpox in children who have weak immune system conditions, doctors can also inject immunoglobulins to strengthen the immune system's work to fight infection.