Request for help and suggestions on picking at scabs

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Dear friends: please give suggestions for my 11-year-old daughter who is keeping open the chickenpox lesions long after the itchiness is gone and she is back at school. She went to school this morning with one bleeding on her face. Her sheets have small dots of blood from the wounds being kept open. This has been a problem in the past from small scratches and scrapes, but now is getting worse and she is picking at the lesions on her face, arms, and legs. I thought she had been exposed and was immune, but she got the chickenpox. She did not have the immunization. I have kept my mouth shut for about a week now, but she's still picking at the wounds and keeping them open. Please don't reply directly to my email address so that the message will come to my home where she can read it. I will check replies here. Thanks. Worried.

[308wood]

It seems you are dealing with two distinct problems.
The first one is simple to resolve. The lesions need to heal and the best way to heal any wound is to keep it clean, protect it and cover it with Band-aids and Neosporin ointment. I understand the child may feel this is not the best avenue and you may be able to use the “threat” of having to wear bandages in public to keep her from picking the scabs. There are also a lot of good cover-ups you might try to hide the sores. Maybe you can use the offer of wearing makeup but only if she doesn’t pick.

The second problem is a little harder to deal with. Why is your Daughter picking at the wounds in the first place? Is it due to boredom or anxiety? Does she exhibit any other “negative” behaviors like nail biting or hair twisting? Is this a sigh of something more sinister? Considering the social pressures an 11 year old is under (I know it sounds silly to someone of my generation). At 11 It’s not uncommon for problems to begin forming. Maybe it’s nothing.

Hope everything works out