Hands up (sorry) if you have no idea what HF&M ( hand, foot and mouth) is?
I will admit that until I saw an episode of Get Well Soon where Dr Ranj explained to Deep that he had HF&M I didn’t have a clue. To be honest Izzy was watching it and not me so I was still a little clueless two weeks when Izzy started showing symptoms of it.
I thought she was cutting her back teeth. She was very very miserable, she had a really bad nappy rash and she even told me she had bad teeth. So we dosed her up on teething remedies and tried to ride it out. Then she started refusing to eat and then to drink. It was really unpleasant. That day I put her in a nice bath to ease her nappy rash which was getting pretty nasty and it was then I noticed the rash had crept down her legs and I spotted one spot on her hand. HF&M sprung to mind and I called my GP who asked us to go down that afternoon. On examination the Doc immediately said it was definitely HF&M and her poor little mouth was packed FULL of ulcers because of it..her pain must have been incredible.
There isn’t any medication for it. Just pain relief and my daughter really suffered for a few days.
Thankfully she is over it. She’s a little pale and washed out but otherwise fine. I’ve had to have blood tests to check I’ve got antibodies against it because I’m 39wks pregnant and hopefully those results will be all fine.
Some info from the NHS site:
Hand, foot and mouth disease is a viral infection that can affect young children.
It doesn’t usually pose a serious threat to a child’s health, but it can be be an unpleasant condition, particularly if it affects younger children.
Typical symptoms of hand foot and mouth disease include: cold-like symptoms, such as loss of appetite, cough and a moderately high temperature of around 38-39°C (100.4- 102.2°F)
a non-itchy red rash that develops on the hand and the feet; sometimes the rash can develop into painful blisters and painful mouth ulcers.
Hand, foot and mouth disease is a self-limiting condition, which means that it will get better on its own without treatment. The symptoms will usually pass within seven days.
However, speak to your GP or call NHS 111 if you’re unsure whether your child has hand, foot and mouth disease.
You should also contact your GP if your child isn’t drinking any fluid or their symptoms last longer than seven days.
There is currently no cure for hand, foot and mouth disease, so treatment involves making your child feel as comfortable as possible while waiting for the infection to take its course.
Possible treatment options include:
Using paracetamol, ibuprofen and mouth gels to relieve the pain of mouth ulcers as well as drinking plenty of fluids to help relieve a high temperature.
I’m glad it’s over with now but on the plus side we have managed to say goodbye to her dummy. She has had it just for sleep since she was 6 months old and has asked for it every night since she started talking. When the pain in her mouth became really bad last week she refused it and since then hasn’t wanted it at all so we have hidden it from view and I actually think she won’t go back to it which saves us having to try and wean her off it!
