# Anyone know if going swimming in the ocean is good for Chicken Pox?



## miggymama (Aug 15, 2002)

My son (41/2 years) and daughter (2 years) have chicken pox and we live by the coast... I was wondering if taking them to the ocean and letting them play would be a good idea. I realize that I would have to keep them away from other people...I don't think that would be a problem. I know that they can take baths with sea salt to help the healing process. What do you mamas think? Thank you!


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## craftymom (Jun 27, 2005)

I don't know specifically about chicken pox, but my fil once went swimming in the ocean to try to heal his poison oak. In Hawaii--he thought, warm salt water, what could be better? Big Mistake. He got a horrible secondary infection and had a fabulous vacation.

He had weeping, open poison oak.

Are your kids' spots fresh, or are they starting to break? If they have open sores, I would say no way.

The ocean is not nearly as clean as we would like to think. There's everything that washes off the land (motor oil, pesticides, fertilizers, dog poop, just plain trash); plus all the stuff in the water (stuff from boats, fish poop, dead fish, dead gulls, fish innards dumped by fishermen, whatever else). Bacteria, bacteria, bacteria. Not what you want in open wounds.

Curious to see what others say, I doubt the water's any cleaner where you are than where I am!


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## boobjuice (Jul 23, 2006)

i dont know the answer to your question specifically, but when i lived in the virgin islands, we learned to be careful swimming in the ocean with open cuts/wounds as you could get staph infection. it actually happened to my brother.


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