Some are best treated by a process called punch excision where they are cut out and sutured. Some can be treated by subcision which involves releasing the underlying scar tissue from under the skin. And others are treated best with Dermabrasion using a diamond fraise or with fillers such as Restylane. I would like to do something about my stretch marks.

Chicken pox has a fancier medical name called varicella zoster. It is a virus which infects the body causing the typical illness. To understand why it is called "chicken pox" see "Why is it called Chicken Pox?".

Almost never. Except for children and adults who have immune system problems, getting chicken pox confers life-long immunity. Now, the minute I say never, someone will come up with a story about how he or one of his family got it twice. While this is a possibility, it is extremely rare. Most of the time, these stories turn out that the original chicken pox "infection" was a rash that was mistaken for chicken pox.

Humans are the only animals that get chicken pox. Therefore, the only way to catch it is by being around a person who has it. The virus is spread through secretions and by tiny droplets, so sharing saliva (kissing, infant's toys, etc.), sneezing, and coughing are good ways to get the virus from one person to another.

The most contagious time occurs when the person is going through the cold-like symptoms which is usually two to five days before the rash shows up. Therefore, the time in which someone is most contagious occurs before the person even knows he has chicken pox! After the rash appears, the person is infectious for about 5 days or until all the lesions have begun crusting over. This does not mean the lesions need to have gone away or fallen off, just crusted over.

Unfortunately, there isn't much that can be done to completely eliminate the symptoms once a child is infected with chicken pox. Therefore, treatment is geared to trying to alleviate the pain, itch, and fever of chicken pox. Because of the association of Reye's Syndrome and aspirin use during chicken pox, acetaminophen (Tylenol, Tempra, etc.) should be the only medication used to treat fever during this illness.

Chicken pox is a relatively benign infection for most. However, more serious complications do uncommonly occur, and it is these more serious complications that constitute the biggest argument to give the chicken pox vaccine. Some of these complications include: The most common of these otherwise uncommon complications is infection of the skin due to bacteria invading the open sores of the chicken pox. Most of the time, these skin infections are easily treated with antibiotics by mouth.

Children with immune problems can have significant problems if infected with chicken pox. These include those children infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, those with cancer, those on steroids for other illnesses, and newborn babies.

The most effective way to prevent chicken pox in children is to get the vaccine. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that all children over 12 months of age receive this vaccine. The vaccine licensed in the U.S. has been used for a little over six years now and immunity has been holding relatively strong. About 95 percent of children remain immune after six years. However, because it is not 100 percent, these children will most likely require booster shots as an adult.

This is entirely up to you and your child's doctor. As I said, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends vaccinating all children against this disease. There are a lot of pros and cons to this issue, so open discussion with you and your child's doctor is important.

By removing the top layer of skin, microdermibration evens out skin texture and helps erase superficial chicken pox scars. More severe chicken pox scarring needs more advanced non-surgical techniques, like a deep chemical peel or laser facial resurfacing.

A Your skin care specialist can determine if Micro-dermabrasion is right for your skin. Micro-dermabrasion can smooth the appearance of the skin. For maximum results a routine of 6 to 10 treatments are recommended at 1 to 2 week intervals. See Micro-dermabrasion above for more information.

middot; Most adults are immune to chicken pox, either from having the disease of by forming immunity from a mild exposure. If you have had chicken pox in the past, you and your baby are protected (immune). If you are not sure, ask your health care provider to check your immunity with a blood test. If this shows positive immunity, you and your baby are protected. If it shows no immunity, an injection of a medicine called Varicella Immune Globulin (VZIG) may be given to prevent chicken pox.

my older kid of 4 has chicken pox, we don't want our 3 month old baby to get infected as well - what to do? or maybe we do want him to get infected - so that he gets inoculated People with medical conditions that need them to sleep in a particular position usually use adjustable beds. These beds may also be used by people who are temporarily or permanently bed-ridden, to enable them to sleep peacefully.

Yes. If the pregnant woman has definitely had chicken pox in the past there should not a risk of exposing the fetus to the virus. However, to be on the safe side, children with chicken pox should avoid coming in contact with pregnant women.

There is no danger to your baby if you have had the chicken pox. If you are not sure, a blood test can be done to determine if you are immune. If you are not immune, please call your physician.

By demonstrating a verbal history verified by a healthcare provider; by vaccination with two doses of Varivax; or by a blood test that shows immunity to varicella.

in-depth discussion may be found in "Would you prescribe Zovirax for chicken pox scars?" however, to summarize: Acyclovir is an anti-viral medication that has been proven to decrease the symptoms of chicken pox, decrease the number of lesions, and decrease the amount of time it takes for the lesions to crust over. However, this decrease is only one day of illness and is only effective if the medication is started within the first day of the rash.

Essentially the risk is rather small depending upon how far along the pregnancy is. However, it is not insignificant. For a more in-depth discussion about this topic, I suggest reading my previous question "Chicken Pox and Pregnancy".