Chicken pox start by getting contagious – that’s actually the first symptom. From there the person develops small red bumps over most of their body, and sometimes they can even get them in their mouth or nose. These bumps are itchy and generally uncomfortable. For the week or so that the illness lasts they stick around uncomfortably, and then eventually scab up and heal. It’s when they heal that they’re no longer contagious.
When your child (it’s usually children) first gets the disease, they actually become contagious before they show any other signs that they’re sick. This is part of the reason why chicken pox is so easy to transmit. From here the child will develop small red bumps all over the body. These will come up suddenly, appearing in as little as just a few hours, and by this point there’s nothing to do but ride the illness out.
So how to treat chicken pox? Really the only thing you can do is make the person as comfortable as possible. Scratching the chicken pox can cause them to scar, and so you want to keep the itchiness in the skin down, and fight the general sick and tired feeling that they bring. A general painkiller will be your best friend, and skin treatments such as the traditional oatmeal bath or calamine lotion are great ways to help. For little children, you may even want to consider putting mittens on their hands so they can’t itch themselves unaware.
But how long are chicken pox contagious? They’re contagious until the pox scab up, which usually takes about a week or so after they first appear. This is also about the time that they will start feeling better as well.
Chicken pox start by being contagious, and then getting bumpy and itchy. The best you can do is ride it out, and do what you can to prevent scarring from scratching.