Hand-Foot-Mouth Disease!
Which is stupidly named because it’s not a disease at all. It’s a virus. An evil, fun sucking virus. So here’s what happened – On Friday Lincoln was his normal hyper self, eating, playing, and screaming with glee. We went to bed at 7pm as normal, but then he woke up around 2am burning up. I took his temperature and he was at 102 degrees! Obviously being the paranoid Mama I am I tried to get him to take some Tylenol, but he refused. I changed him out of his footie PJs and into a cotton short sleeved set with a light blanket and let him go back to sleep.
By the morning he was very lethargic and his temperature had climbed to 104 degrees. He started vomiting as well so I made the decision to take him into urgent care. He had been fighting a cold, but that didn’t seem to be any big deal. He was also experiencing a bit of a rash on his bottom, but nothing that would’ve indicated to me that he had HFMD. The urgent care doctor was able to get him to take some Tylenol and drink some apple juice which greatly improved his mood/demeanor as I am sure it helped him feel a little better. We went home to continue with just managing his symptoms as there’s nothing else you can do for HFMD.
Over the next few days the rash and blisters covered his hands, feet, bottom, and elbows. The blisters really attacked his eczema spots making him particularly itchy and miserable. Luckily, he never experienced the mouth sores (thank God!). I wanted to list some items we did to help manage his symptoms to help any other caregivers out there who may be battling this same evil virus:
- Lincoln still nurses. I am no doctor but I have a gut feeling this is what helped keep his mouth clear of sores. I also used freshly expressed breast milk on the rash on his bottom to help calm the inflammation and soothe the pain.
- Epsom Salt Baths: we took an Epsom salt bath nightly and soaked for at least 20mins (aka – played in the tub). I did this to help cleanse his skin and detoxify. Since his skin was hurting him it was hard to get him into the bath so either big brother or I had to get him with him but once we started doing this a lot of his rashes started scabbing over and healing.
- Hydrocortisone Cream on his Eczema spots was very necessary. The tops of his feet and his fingers are two spots where it’s hard to keep his eczema under control so using his hydrocortisone twice a day was great for helping those spots more comfortable.
- Coconut Oil as a moisturizer on the rest of his skin. Not only is it important to keep his skin moisturized since he does suffer from eczema and its winter here in Minnesota but also coconut oil is known to be a natural antibacterial oil. So, I was hoping by using this we would prevent the rash from spreading even further.
- Elderberry syrup + Water: We used 1 teaspoon of elderberry syrup in water twice a day to help boost Lincoln’s immune system, fight the virus, and keep him hydrated.
It’s now Friday, so about a week since Lincoln came down with this virus. He’s now in full healing mode, and his rashes are all scabbed over. The skin on his hands is peeling and new healthy skin is forming, and he’s finally eating (mostly) normal again. It was a long week, and he felt quite miserable. As most of you know – a sick toddler is tough to handle. We made it though, and from my research it’s not typical for HFMD to clear up as quickly as Lincoln’s did. So, I am taking a bit of credit for treating it with care and helping boost his immune system the best I could in order to help him fight off this evil virus.
If you or your little ones are dealing with HFMD right now I am SO SORRY! Hang in there!