When my husband first told me a few weeks back that he put a bandaid over one of Kennedy's boo-boos I paid no attention, just thinking she scratched her arm or something. But to my surprise a week or two later she woke with marks on her face, three to be exact. They were pretty small so I just assumed that she scratched her face some how while in her sleep since her finger nails grow like crazy. After a day or two I noticed those boo boos on her face were getting more noticable and then I realized the boo-boo on her arm that was covered by a two week old bandaid had actually grown larger than the bandaid itself. That is when I began to pay more attention. Thanks to Doctor Google searches "sores on my child's skin" and "child skin infections" we decided it was time to take Kennedy to the doctor to find out what in the world was going on. In the mean time, I had used the AnimalScent ointment by Young Living (think the magic of the Rose Ointment but waaay more bang for your buck) on Kennedy's boo-boos then covered with a bandaid. We definitely didn't want things to get worse, especially since the following morning she woke with a sore in the very corner of her eye.
That is when we learned that what she had was impetigo and just how contagious this skin infection can be.
So what is impetigo aka "school sores"?
It's a highly contagious skin infection that causes red sores on the face. It mainly affects infants and children. Impetigo is caused by bacteria, usually staphylococci organisms. And it spreads by skin-to-skin contact. Most of the descriptions of impetigo include sores that rupture and then ooze causing a honey colored crust. Since Kennedy's never ruptured or ooze I was at first unsure that impetigo was what she had.
How did we support Kennedy's body during this time?
The doctor prescribed Kennedy an antibiotic ointment thankfully called Mupirocin. This ointment seemed to really help Kennedy, although I still notice the sores spread although it states that it should no longer spread after 24 hours of use.
After a few days of using the prescribed cream I began to notice those burn like sores on Kennedy's finger tips and palms of her hands. Like how in the world are you suppose to contain it once it appears on the hands?! I FINALLY turned to my Reference Guide for Essential Oils app and looked up recommendations for supporting impetigo. The app recommended an Epson Salt bath, and using the oils Lavender and Myrrh. At this point we were about a week in, and every night I had Kennedy take a bath with Epson salts, a few drops of Lavender and a few drops of Myrrh. I noticed that during the first bath Kennedy's finger tips with the sores turned white, as if they were going to bubble. They never ended up bubbly, but instead turned a purplish color. After 2-3 nights of Espon Salt baths with lavender + myrrh, applying the antibiotic cream 3xs a day and wrapping her hands the sores on her hands were completely gone.
We only had to use the cream for about 5 days, 3 times a day and then no longer had to apply it on Kennedy since all of her sores healed. I will add though that I am just sharing what we found worked for us. I know of 3 other families who had impetigo and their's took a bit longer to heal, although they did not use the same supports we did, every immune system is different and may take longer than others to heal.
Ointment & oils weren't our only tools- Every morning I had Kennedy make sure she took her liquid supplements to help her body's immune system. In one cup I put a few drops of Argentyn 23 Bio-Active Silver Hydrosol + 3 squirts of Mary Ruth's vegan vitamin D3/K2 + a few drops of Mary Ruth's Ionic Zinc + Mary Ruth's organic vitamin C + Mary Ruth's liquid probiotic & I top it with a little bit of water to help Kennedy drink it a bit easier. Our girls are not a fan of gummies or strong tasting supplements so these are as good as we get for them.
And lastly when it came to support Kennedy with impetigo, Bandaids mattered. No kid likes to have a baindaid ripped off 3xs a day to apply ointment. They weren't so bad on the fingertips since there's no hair there, but it was a pain on her legs and arms. We found that putting a cottonball over her sore after applying the ointment and then wrapping it with the Hurt-Free Wrap by BandAid was the best way to go. It also allowed me to be able to re-use these wraps and just swapping out the cotton balls each time.
