Health Tip: Calm the Itch of Chicken Pox

(HealthDay News) -- Chicken pox eventually affects most children. While symptoms may begin with a stuffy or runny nose, the hallmark of chicken pox is an itchy rash of red bumps or blisters that appears over most of the body.

Here are suggestions on how to keep your child from scratching and to prevent scarring, courtesy of the Nemours Foundation:

• Keep your child's fingernails cut fairly short, so that if he does scratch, he will do less damage to his skin.
• Since sweating may make itching worse, keep your child cool. You can apply a washcloth soaked in cool water to areas that are irritated.
• Give your child a lukewarm bath (water that's too hot will worsen the itching), and try adding oatmeal to the water to help soothe itchy skin.
• Apply calamine lotion to the skin, which can help stop itching.

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