Sharing some of my current lifesavers in this grave time of HFMD...
THINGS
#1 This swivel chair (or any chair with wheels, basically)
I remember in September when I first brought home the box containing the parts for this chair, my mum exclaimed, "Where are you going to put the chair? Your room is so full already!"
Well, it's a damn good thing I brought home this swivel chair from Ikea (at an offer too - only SGD$39.90 when I bought it!) because it was her lifesaver for 2 days when she was in the stage of painful blisters during HFMD and couldn't walk, and moving around on the chair was much easier on her blistered feet.
I didn't reached the stage of blistered feet; just very itchy feet due to the rashes which were somehow "hardening". Thus, during that time it really itched just to twitch my foot, let alone walk. It was really way easier and more convenient to roll around via this chair than to walk and provoke my feet into itching, which you know, once you start you can't stop, as Pringles would say.
#2 Soft, Fluffy Slippers
When your rashes are in that super itchy stage, even just touching the cold hard floor will provoke the rashes into itching. So soft, fluffy slippers came in really useful.
For my mum, it did good to cushion her severely blistered feet.
And also, if you are going to be applying any sort of cream on your feet (see point 3 below) and need to walk around after that, you'd definitely need a pair of soft slippers!
Soft fluffy slippers from Daiso (i.e. only $2 per pair)
#3 Aloe Vera Gel
I used some expired aloe vera gel on my very itchy feet (well, it was manufactured in 2008 so it most definitely must have expired by now) and it did help for like... 10 mins, which I suppose is better than nothing.
Online, I read that calamine lotion may help. I suppose moisturizer may also help.
That be said, the itch is not as bad as the itch I experienced from a previous bout of eczema, during which ice/ an ice pack really helped to quell the itch. What I didn't like was when the ice started to melt, then it got really messy. Maybe it might be cleaner and easier to just dunk your feet in a basin of ice cold water, if you are that desperate.
#4 Bottles of water in the room
Saves me the trouble of having to walk to the kitchen to refill my glass of water, especially in the middle of the night when I wake up with a dry and painful throat. But of course, cold water is still most soothing on my painful throat, and sometimes, it is worth the long walk to the fridge...
#5 Dettol, of course
Obviously, I have to mention Dettol coz that's what inspired this blog - remember, eat-breathe-live Dettol. Well, right now we're still rather backward, using the normal press and dispense kinda bottles, but I really think we should get this No-Touch Hand Wash System!
We found Dettol wipes very useful also, to clean all surfaces that infected people like me touch. I practically keep a packet of Dettol wipes beside me in my room, constantly cleaning my laptop keyboard, mouse and phone.
Most recently, Mum acquired this Dettol spray (just like insecticide), which is pretty convenient too. It's seriously quite interesting, the range of products that Dettol has to offer.
#6 Disposable plates and cutlery
HFMD is passed through saliva and bodily fluids so to be safe, we used disposable plates and cutlery, to avoid the chance of blisters on hands weeping and falling on to the food/plates and/or improperly washed plates and cutlery which might still have traces of saliva on it. Better to be kiasu and safe than sorry!
FOOD
(A) What works for me:
Warm, soupy stuff with noodles e.g. fish slice horfun/beehoon, fish ball soup
Ice cold water
Ice cold paracetamol
My mum swears by yoghurt but I haven't tried that yet.
(B) What doesn't work for me:
Ice cream and dou hwa seem to sting my throat (perhaps due to the milk content). The pain is bearable when swallowing but it is significantly higher than when I eat the above food in A.
Things that are too sweet (e.g. honey water) seem to sting my throat too.
