Last week my son broke out with chicken pox. I actually was quite pleased at explained why he was behaving so badly and also I would sooner he got it while he was young. I received many helpful tips on helping deal with his symptoms. One piece of advice I was given was to buy Aqueous calamine cream. This was not a product I had heard of but decided to give it a try. I had used calamine lotion a few months ago to relieve itching when I developed a post viral rash and found it very messy to apply.

I bought a tub of the cream from my local Manor chemist it cost £1.67 for a 100mls tub. When I opened the tub and smelled it wasn't as strong as normal Calamine lotion but is the same colour. It does state on the tub that it relieves minor sunburn and other minor skin conditions.

This major difference for me was how easy it was to apply. I simply dipped my finger into the cream and applied it liberally to affected areas except those under his hair. It was clearly cold and actually soothing to his skin. I did find it difficult to apply to his face as he was complaining that it hurt. It did rub in easily and didn't leave and white marks and more importantly for a toddler he didn't need to keep still for it to dry.

I did used bicarbonate of soda in the bath and Piriton at night as this was another recommendation due to that fact he did tend suffer with itchy skin far worse during the night than. He actually was asking for special cream to relieve the itching. I think it may well have been the cooling properties rather than anything else. He did call me back for additional cream and it was on spots I had missed so clearly something was helping.

My son is still infectious but no longer seems to be itching so I am now only applying the cream at night. As it does contain liquid paraffin which is good for the skin so hopefully will help with the healing process.

While I do really rate this cream for little ones I do think that it is important that it is mentioned that traditional Calamine lotion contains 15 % Calamine as opposed to the aqueous cream which contains 4%. Despite this huge difference I do think that it is a better option for young children and would recommend it for chicken pox.
This is for me a well spent £1.67.