Chicken Pox Question…Need Help
Master J seems to have come out in a secondary rash that looks an awful lot like hives to me, mainly on his legs at this stage (he won’t let me look elsewhere!) but quite extensive. It is very different from his other (current) legions for chicken pox but Talented Hubby is determined to count it as one and the same disease (if not chicken pox based, then at least caused by it).
We can’t see the doctor until at least Tuesday morning, but as far as I’ve worked out so far, it could be a reaction to some bacteria that got in through the legions when he scratched. I just wanted to know if anyone has seen this same thing in their own kids - what appears to be hives several days into an otherwise very run-of-the-mill chicken pox outbreak - and could give me some advice?
He’s not making it easy for us to check properly either - in fact, we’ve had to come down all hard and heavy on the ‘checking spots several times a day’ thing - now I’m glad I pushed to check, otherwise we may have missed picking this up as soon as we did, sigh. Apart from being generally ‘ick’ due to the pox, and horrible grumpiness/opposition to us looking at his spots, he is otherwise in okay spirits. He’s having a little trouble swallowing at the moment (he has a few legions at the top of his throat, which we were keeping a close eye on - but we did think this was going to fix itself as the spots began to heal over the rest of his body) and he’s ITCHY (that seemed to step up on day 3) but otherwise fine.
Cheers,
Lizzie
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Just an Aussie mother to three, wife to one, special needs advocate, sometimes crafter, always procrastinator and awesome baker. Well maybe not bread. Bread alludes me.
Hives is a possibility, has he eaten anything he’s allergic to? Or possibly mosquito bites? It isn’t usual for a secondary rash as far as I know (but I’m no doctor).
No, he’s not allergic to anything and hasn’t eaten anything different. I’m reading online about impetigo etc and they say that can happen when bacteria gets into minor cuts or abrasions on the skin, and they cite chicken pox as an example of such abrasions, so…
I can get him into the after-hours clinic tomorrow night - we’re a bit stuck at the moment because hubby is working tonight (otherwise we’d take him to the clinic tonight) and again tomorrow. Even though the other two kids are at school tomorrow, I don’t drive and even if I did, I still think he’s contagious so certainly couldn’t take a trip in on public transport like I’m used to. We need Daddy to be there to drive us in (quick and simple) and to help us make a quick getaway, especially if he’s still contagious.
A shower today flared him up pretty bad - I think the warm water made the hives worse. Then as I was drying him off (veeeeeery gently, lol) I noticed what looked like a pustule behind his ear. Didn’t have a clue what THAT was until he got chicken pox by the way and I was looking up papules and pustules, LOL. Papules are the usual clear-fluid filled blisters of CP (he hasn’t got many, if any of those left, they’ve all broken, which is good) but pustules can happen with bacterial infections, one of which can be impetigo. I’ll show it to TH tonight when he returns home and see what he thinks. At a pinch, he can leave work early tomorrow or not start until later. Personally, although full-torso hives look HORRENDOUS, so long as he’s not overly distressed or having trouble with breathing or swallowing, I think we’re safe to wait until Tuesday morning when TH is off work. Anything changes though, and we’re at the hospital like a rocket.
So sad, seeing him all spotty and lumpy though :)
Cheers,
Lizzie
I think that a trip to the doctor is definitely in order. CP can produce all sorts of complications-I didn’t really want to say that in my last comment…but it looks like you might just need to get it looked at.
When Jake had the CP at 9 months old, he ended up with an ear infection, eye infection, and chest infection plus a bunch of infected pox on his bum from wearing a diaper. I have never seen the hives though…that is a bit strange. Pox in his throat and on his eyelids seem sorta serious if you ask me…I would definitely take him to be checked out. You may want to phone ahead to the doc’s office because I’m sure he’s still contagious, and Jake’s doc had us wait in the hall to protect other patients.
I know that you prefer to go au natural, but a good dose of children’s Benedryl would help with the itching and if there’s any allergic reaction, plus hopefully help him rest better. Poor little guy. :( Hot/warm baths definitely are one thing to cause the pox to flare up and activates more pox. Try sponge baths or luke warm if he can take it. Aveeno oatmeal bath packets are amazing too, I loved them when I was all itchy. I’m not sure if those are available in Oz….
And popsicles. Popsicles are just the thing to make kiddos with the pox feel happier. :)
Scattered Mom’s last blog post..There’s a Kid Bleeding in my Kitchen
Scattered -
Popsicles (we call them iceblocks here!), check! Oatmeal bath, check (can get Aveeno but tried home remedy - big disaster, ended up with teeny tiny flakes of oatmeal in his hair that wouldn’t wash out without a lot of effort - definitely not something a kid like J handled well!). Something called Pinetarsol, check. Put that in the bath, stunk to high-heaven and turned the water a delightful shade of Pee Yellow but didn’t do much.
Actually, the mysterious hivey-rash seems all but GONE today. It’s the strangest thing, but also another tick on the ‘hives’ side because they tend to come and go as they please, blink and they’re gone kind of thing. The torso was almost entirely covered yesterday and not a scrap of it on there today, very weird. Still has a little on his wrists and a couple small patches on his bum but compared to yesterday, I don’t even think it warrants a trip to the doctor. As it stands right at this moment, his ‘pox’ are healing well, the hives thing all but gone and he just has one suspicious looking crust behind one ear that we’re keeping a close eye on. We said that if the hives were back or the spot looked worse by the time TH gets off work at around 5:30 that we’d just take him to the after-hours clinic but right now, he’s in great spirits and the rest of him looks to be healing well, so….all is well in the Land of Lizzie as of this exact moment. Check back in an hour though, and it could all be different!
Cheers,
Lizzie