# Parents - kids and chickenpox scars **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 28, 2012, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-kids-and-chickenpox-scars/626576 "2012-06-28T13:35:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Busy\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@Busy\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Busy_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2012, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-kids-and-chickenpox-scars/626576/1 "2012-06-28T13:35:48Z")
Our little girl has just had a bad case of the pox - bad in the sense that it localised on her head. She looked like a plague victim the poor thing and she’s only just turned one. Anyhow, we looked after the blisters, calamine lotion etc and she was really good about not scratching them. None seemed infected. Still, when the scabs dropped off she’s been left with loads of marks around her forehead and temple. Some of them seem fairly substantial pock-marks. I’m wondering how miraculous are the healing properties of a 1 yo’s skin - are these on the way out already? Would be good to hear from some parents who’ve had young kids with chickenpox and how their skin fared afterwards. Is there anything worth doing to try and encourage the scars to fade (bio-oil etc)? Or is that needlessly fretful? Interested to hear your opinions. ---
**Author:** ![Minnie\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Minnie\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Minnie_Luna)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2012, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-kids-and-chickenpox-scars/626576/2 "2012-06-28T13:38:29Z")
I had a bad case at 16 and was left with deep scars. They did slowly heal, I didn’t use anything special on them. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2012, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-kids-and-chickenpox-scars/626576/3 "2012-06-28T13:42:51Z")
Most kids in the past decade have had the chicken pox vaccine. So data may be more limited to themselves or those with much older kids. I would expect that a 1 year old’s skin should heal pretty well. So the scarring should be pretty limited. I had chicken pox about 40 years ago, and have no scars as a result. My little sister has one on her forehead that is noticable, but only if you point it out. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2012, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-kids-and-chickenpox-scars/626576/4 "2012-06-28T13:43:08Z")
I had them as a baby and only one very deep one remained byt eh time I was five. I can just barely see it now. Vitamin e oil has worked well on some of my other scars. Rubbing any kind of lotion into the skin mornign and night will help keep the healed skin supple and minimize any hardening. ---
**Author:** ![nikonikosuru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f8ce5/32.png) [@nikonikosuru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nikonikosuru)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2012, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-kids-and-chickenpox-scars/626576/5 "2012-06-28T13:44:38Z")
My siblings and I all caught it at the same time. My sister was between 1 and 2 and had them the worst. She has no scars left behind from what I can see. I think since they’re so young, there’s much more time to heal. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2012, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-kids-and-chickenpox-scars/626576/6 "2012-06-28T13:54:49Z")
I had them 25 years ago. I was left with one scar on my foot and one on my nose; both scars are almost impossible to find now. As I recall they were already hard to find a year after the pox was over. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2012, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-kids-and-chickenpox-scars/626576/7 "2012-06-28T14:41:18Z")
My younger son had a really bad case. He ended with several scars, some on his face. He was 9 at the time. Now fully grown the scars are tiny. Scars don’t always diminish in proportion as people grow. I’ve seen some scars on people that stretched out as they grew. After consulting with a doctor you could try the various scar healing substances out there to try to minimize these. The scars on my son’s face seem to enhance his attraction for women somehow, but I can see how that could be different for a girl. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2012, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-kids-and-chickenpox-scars/626576/8 "2012-06-28T15:08:11Z")
All my kids had it, but the middle one (3 at the time) had it so bad on her face that I cried when I looked at her (and I’m a guy). Not a scar to be seen 7 years later. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2012, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-kids-and-chickenpox-scars/626576/9 "2012-06-28T15:09:27Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > All my kids had it, but the middle one (3 at the time) had it so bad on her face that I cried when I looked at her (and I’m a guy). Not a scar to be seen 7 years later. Man that’s got to be rough, crying everytime you looked at your kid for four years! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2012, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-kids-and-chickenpox-scars/626576/10 "2012-06-28T15:37:38Z")
My daughter took a large, heavy statuette to the upper lip as a 2 or 3 year old. It punched a deep gouge in her face. At nine, you can barely make out the little half-moon line… they heal very well. ---
**Author:** ![Sister\_Vigilante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2012, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-kids-and-chickenpox-scars/626576/11 "2012-06-28T15:46:50Z")
At 1 she should heal fine. I had a few I couldn’t resist scratching and there were a couple of pock marks on my face as a tween. They are gone now. The stitch scars I got from busting open my chin at a younger age, on the other hand… ---
**Author:** ![Busy\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@Busy\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Busy_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2012, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-kids-and-chickenpox-scars/626576/12 "2012-06-28T15:54:08Z")
Thks all - reassuring to hear. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2012, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-kids-and-chickenpox-scars/626576/13 "2012-06-28T16:12:05Z")
My sibs & I all had chicken pox many years ago without long-standing results. If you don’t count my moderate case of [shingles](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herpes_zoster), just fading away. I’m glad that most of the current generation will be protected from that discomfort by the chicken pox vaccine… ---
**Author:** ![Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/58956e/32.png) [@Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emtar_KronJonDerSohn)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2012, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-kids-and-chickenpox-scars/626576/14 "2012-06-28T17:26:39Z")
I had them really bad when I was 4, in my ear canals and down my throat and between my toes. I had a lot of scars but they gradually faded. I’m 30 now and I have a couple on my back and a very faint one on my forehead. You wouldn’t likely notice them if you didn’t know they were there. ---
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2012, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-kids-and-chickenpox-scars/626576/15 "2012-06-28T20:04:46Z")
My brothers got them very young - 3 & 5 I think, and I was 13. I had BAD scars on my face all through highschool. There were still plenty of them, and those were fairly deep in college. Now at 30, I only have three that are still there, and of those, only one \*looks \*like a pox scar. None are what I would call “noticeable.” My brothers were fine by the time they hit middle school - not a mark to be seen on either of them. I think age has a great deal to do with it. Regardless, Vitamin E lotion and regular massage of the area is supposed to be a big help. My husband was also told that his facial scar would subside faster if he exfoliated that area regularly, and it seems to be working for him.