A VISIT TO THE DOCTOR

On Sunday morning, after another night of fever, sweats and chills, my skin looked red and irritated. No itchiness but a burning sensation instead, especially on my face,- the kind of feeling you get after getting sunburned.

I went to the doctor, still believing this was an allergic reaction of some sort.

The doctor examined my spots and blisters, and told me this was the chicken pox. She told me to go home and rest until it went away, and to take some paracetamol only if I felt I needed some. She suggested that I should take some antihistamine if it got worse. I told her that my spots were not itchy, and she said that it was strange, but that there was no doubt it was the chickenpox because my spots were in different stages of the disease and because of the fact that some spots were on my scalp.

So I went back home and decided to fight this thing back.

Note: Never take an aspirin and avoid ibuprofen too. Use of aspirin has been associated with a serious condition called Reye syndrome. Ibuprofen has been associated with more severe secondary infections.


There are some antiviral medicines for chicken pox, and they are usually prescribed to people who are likely to suffer from complications, such as people who have a long-term illness, people with impaired immune system, pregnant women and babies born early or with a low birth weight and whose mother had chicken pox.

Antiviral medicines can be taken by mouth (orally), by an injection (intravenous), or applied on the skin (topically). Acyclovir is the antiviral medicine used most often to treat chicken pox. Antiviral eye ointments are also available and prescribed if you develop chicken pox blisters in your eyes.

    

FIRST CHICKEN POX RASHES

On Friday night I found some red spots on my belly. They were not itchy.

During that night I had some fever with sweats and hot and cold flashes. When I woke up on Saturday, I had a few more spots on my face, some of them were red and some were pustules, as if I was suffering from a bad acne breakout. None of them were itchy.

My throat was still feeling sore.

It didn't cross my mind that this was chicken pox. I thought I was experiencing an allergic reaction to something I had eaten or that my liver was a bit congested. I thoroughly exfoliated my skin and had a nice and long hot bath with sea salt.

The first spots normally appear behind the ears, on the face, over the scalp, on the chest and belly, and on the arms and legs.

These spots develop a blister on top (some are red spots that develop into what looks like a raindrop; others are pustular) and can become intensely itchy after about 12-14 hours. Itchiness never developed in my case. I wonder if the fact that I exfoliated my skin and having a bath with sea salt helped. I've read that sea salt in water acts through osmosis. Osmosis happens when there is a solution imbalance (in this case salt) between two liquids with a permeable barrier (in this case our skin). It's not usual to experience a non-itchy chicken pox, so I thought this was quite a plausible explanation.

Note: Apparently a hot bath with sea salt during the first two days helps to bring out the rashes, accelerating the process. If you only have one spot, and you want to make sure it's the chicken pox, soak in a hot bath with salts for 30-45 minutes. If it's the chicken pox more spots will appear after the bath.


Unfortunately, the spots can be anywhere on the body, even in your most intimate parts. You should seek medical assistance if a blister starts growing inside an eyelid, which can be a problem.