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Enclosed are pictures of my son. He was about 5 years old, in First Grade (1999), when he developed impetigo. It's a disease that's just as nasty as all the books say.

It started out one morning looking like a little, clear blister. By 2:00, when school let out, it was a broken blister about half the size of a dime. By the next morning, it was a weeping, seeping, itchy mess. I didn't realize at the time that it was impetigo, so I sent him to school with about 5 bandaids on his lip (!!), but he was sent home by the school nurse anyway.

Went to the pediatrician, who diagnosed the impetigo, and prescribed a topical antibiotic - Bactraban - to be applied twice a day. He had to spend the rest of the week at home, as the disease is highly contagious.

Aside from it itching a lot (and looking crusty and horrible), it wasn't painful to him or anything. It started to clear up in a day or so, and in about a week's time, all that was left was a pink area where the mess had been.

As you can see from the "After" picture - taken just recently (he's in 3rd grade now), there isn't even a scar.

Impetigo is definitely not something to mess around with or wait too long to see the doctor about. It spreads really quickly, and is pretty uncomfortable for everyone!

BTW, love your website!

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ED: Impetigo is apparently not very serious but very, very contagious.

I'm not into all that holistic stuff, but supposedly the Black Walnut can help mouth sores. Thinking of the black walnut makes me think of home. If I could link to a smell, I would find one of the black walnut.

I was going to make a joke about smell streaming over the internet, but I guess it's no joke.

Also, there are a lot of impetigo pics out there.

Photos:
Impetigo- Mom won't kiss you in front of all the other kids now
Impetigo healed- not a trace