Chicken Pox

My son started with some "spots" on his face last Thursday (today is Monday). I thought they were possibly flea bites (we have cats). Of course, my son is a picker and a scratcher so I assumed when the "rash" appeared to be getting worse that he was just picking at it. When the school phoned me on Friday to express their concern I assured them it was "no big deal."

The weekend came along and my husband (being the all-knowing medic, lol) proceeded to put Neosporin on the sores. I chose not to say anything because I didn't want to contradict him (against my better judgement). Today I sent the young lad off to school with a hug, smile and a "don't pick at your face, please!"

Of course, the school called this afternoon and was concerned because his rash appeared to be getting worse and spreading. I, once again, informed them that it was no big deal and "no, I was NOT taking my child to a doctor. I only seek the medical community's assistance in a life or death situation and when there are broken bones involved." That was that . . . or so I thought.

My child arrived home and I looked at his "rash" to see what the fuss was about. Yeah, it was all over his body! How could I have missed that? Well, I quickly determined that he has chicken pox. Here's the information that I can offer on this:

Chicken pox is very contagious. Since I choose not to vaccinate my children (any more), I should not be surprised to have this outbreak begin in my home. It is usually NOT a problem that needs to have a doctor involved. There is usually a slight fever in the beginning and then the rash starts to make it's appearance. Lots of information is all over the internet about what to look for and various other uncommon complications that sometimes can occur.

What am I doing?

Well, I immediately threw the young man into a tub with very warm water and baking soda (to help with the itch). You could also use that Aveeno oatmeal bath - it's pretty soothing as well. I like the hot water because it helps the spots to make a really grand entrance. Why do we want as much of a rash as we can get? Well, it's the toxins in the body coming out. You supress the rash, you lock those toxins in the body to make an ugly appearance sometime later in life. No good.

In addition, I'm giving my boy HOT yarrow tea. That warms up the inside and just helps those toxins to work their way out. Of course, we don't tell HIM that! However, this particular child of mine is pretty excited for all the attention. His twin sister, however, is looking on in horror (I informed her that it is pretty inevitable that she's going to be visited by the same fate).

I will have to trim my son's nails (like I said, he's a scratcher and a picker) so as to minimize the scarring that "could" result.

Other than that, I'm just letting nature take it's course. Our bodies are VERY intelligent and know exactly what to do. Unfortunately, our society and culture has lost touch with that simple fact.