Chicken Pox brings the urge to scratch and rub the evil pox. Ouch.

But what is it?

Unmodified Photo Chicken pox! by SuperFantastic CC BY-SA 2.0

Chicken Pox (a common disease caused by the varicella-zoster virus) is a herpes virus, the same virus that causes cold sores, shingles, and mono (mononucleosis). It spreads through contact (through the ooze inside the Chicken Pox blisters), coughs or sneezes.

Chicken Pox causes an itchy rash on the skin. The chicken pox red rash looks like red pimples that turn into blisters. The blisters appear over 2 to 4 days, and have a clear fluid at first, that turns cloudy.

Fever, stomach pain, or just “feeling yucky” comes a few days before the rash. Symptoms may last for a couple of days. For more info, visit here.

Once you have Chicken Pox, though, and it’s been diagnosed by your doctor, stay out of contact with other people for a week to ten days. People who have had Chicken Pox should be immune and okay to visit the person with the pox.

Anti-itch with chicken pox is the key. Keeping your child (or you) from itching is nearly impossible, but colloidal oatmeal does help. Take a tepid bath with the oatmeal several times a day. Add a packet (two to three cups) of colloidal oatmeal under the faucet to help disperse the oatmeal. Soak in the bath for ten to fifteen minutes. When you are ready to get out of the bath, be careful. The bathtub will be slick from the oatmeal. When drying, don’t rub your skin since this can irritate the sore areas. Instead, pat yourself dry with a clean towel. This treatment can be taken up to three times daily to help ease the itch of chicken pox. It relieves the itch, but don’t forget to follow your doctor’s instructions to get rid of Chicken Pox.

Here are some products that may help the itch.