As I was getting LBG ready for bed one night last week, I noticed a red spot on her chest. Nothing stood out about it particularly, and yet something made me make a mental note to keep an eye on it. The next morning that one spot was dozens of teeny tiny blisters, in clusters, on the right hand side of her chest and back, and we took her to A&E where we learned she had Shingles.
In retrospect, the night after I noticed that one spot was awful. She didn’t complain of anything, but was up and down all night, tearful and cuddly and eventually fell asleep with DH in our bed. It never occurred to me to give her Calpol since she didn’t complain of feeling unwell.
Generally speaking, she was in fine spirits. The worst thing for her was the moaning of a very distressed patient in A & E. The Doctor told me that Shingles was a reoccurance of the Chickenpox she contracted when she was two. The virus lays dormant in your body and has the potential to reoccur at any time, though it is unusual in children of 4.
left: the spots on the day they were diagnosed. Some blisters have already formed.
centre: day 3. The spots are mostly blisters.
right: day 10: scabs, which are much more itchy than the spots! Ironically, as the spots get better, they look worse.
Click to enlarge images
LBG had the classic presentation of the virus: since it lays dormant in your nerves, the spots tend to appear on one area of the body- usually chest and back- at the site of one nerve ending. When she had Chicken Pox, the spots were all over and individual. This looked more like a blistery rash.
The spots develop in the same way: from dots, to watery blisters, to crusty scabs. The spots were all formed within the first three days and, after 10 days, have now mostly crusted over.
There is no treatment for Shingles, although you can manage the symptoms. LBG’s didn’t prove even as remotely itchy as the ‘pox and even if they had, they were on her chest and therefore hard to access. I did apply some Benadryl Itch-ease Gel that we bought in America, but Calamine would work just as well. I also dosed her up with Nurofen: every evening she would start complaining of pain on the site of her spots. I was told that I could see my GP for medication if the over-the-counter pain remedies weren’t helping with the pain.
We found that our nights followed a bit of a pattern: she would start complaining of pain, and go to bed dosed with Nurofen, then wake sobbing at around about 10pm. I would give more painkiller (you can alternate Calpol and Nurofen) and snuggle up with her on the sofa or in our bed. Eventually she would fall asleep and, if we were lucky, sleep until morning. This definitely stopped being an issue by day six.
She also went to school. The doctor was very clear that it was neither infectious nor contagious. We subsequently required a letter from our GP for the school, stating that she could attend, and he confirmed that the only real way of another child picking it up would be if they licked my daughter’s Shingles’ site. The websites that I looked at do indicate that it is possible for a person who has not had Chickenpox to ‘catch’ the virus from someone suffering from Shingles.
Ten days on and we are definitely over the worst. She is very sensitive on the site of her now-crusty spots. I have read that there may be residual pain there for some time.
I know this is an older post but i was wondering if you had any update on how things have progressed with your little one? I have a 2 y/o son who has been dealing with this since he received his first varicella vaccine 🙁 not one doctor has been able to definitively say whats been going on however it looks exactly like the pictures above.
My son had this at 4 too! He was fine just weird spots!
I had no idea children could contract shingles, I found your post so informative. Thank you for telling us what to look for. My older daughter is prone to sickness since infancy and a compromised immune system, so I greatly appreciate this post.