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Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
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Lifestyle and home remedies
By Mayo Clinic staffTo help ease the symptoms of an uncomplicated case of chickenpox, follow these self-care measures:
- Don't scratch. Scratching can cause scarring, slow down the healing process and increase the risk that the sores will become infected. If your child can't seem to stop scratching, put gloves on his or her hands, especially at night. And trim his or her fingernails to lessen the amount of damage that can be done. If itching is particularly severe or irritating, talk to your doctor about prescribing an antihistamine for relief.
- Take to the tub. Comfortably cool baths can help relieve itching and provide a playful diversion for a young child. For added relief, sprinkle the bath water with baking soda, uncooked oatmeal or colloidal oatmeal — a finely ground oatmeal that is made for the tub, not the stove.
- Apply lotion. Dabbing the spots with calamine lotion may help relieve the itching.
- Try bed and a bland diet. Getting plenty of rest can help beat any infection. Soft, bland foods can also be helpful if chickenpox sores develop in the mouth. Spicy, acidic or hard and crunchy foods can be irritating to mouth sores.
- Treat a fever. Acetaminophen (Tylenol, others) or ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, others) won't cure chickenpox, but either medication can lower a mild fever. Don't give aspirin to anyone with chickenpox because it can lead to a serious condition called Reye's syndrome. And don't try to treat a high fever without consulting your doctor.
