Hand-foot-and-mouth disease

Diagnosis involves a physical exam to find out whether your child's symptoms are caused by hand-foot-and-mouth disease. Your healthcare professional likely will decide if your child has hand-foot-and-mouth disease or other types of viral illnesses by reviewing:

• Your child's age.
• Your child's symptoms.
• What your child's rash or sores look like.

Your child's healthcare professional may take a throat swab or stool sample. The healthcare professional sends the sample to the lab to find out which virus caused the illness.

There's no specific treatment for hand-foot-and-mouth disease. Symptoms of hand-foot-and-mouth disease usually clear up in 7 to 10 days.

Pain medicines sold without a prescription may help ease general discomfort. These include acetaminophen (Tylenol, others) and ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB, others). Do not give aspirin to children, especially for flu-like symptoms or chickenpox. Aspirin is linked with a rare but serious condition called Reye's syndrome that often affects children and teens.

Medicine called a topical oral anesthetic may help relieve the pain of mouth sores. Some lozenges and throat sprays include topical oral anesthetics. But don't give lozenges to children younger than 4 years old, because they can raise the risk of choking. Don't use throat sprays that contain an ingredient called benzocaine for children younger than 2. Benzocaine can cause a life-threatening condition called methemoglobinemia in children this young.

Some foods and drinks may irritate blisters on the tongue or in the mouth or throat. Try these tips to help make blister soreness less painful. These tips also might make it easier to eat and drink.

• Suck on ice pops or ice chips.
• Eat ice cream or sherbet.
• Sip cold drinks, such as water.
• Sip warm drinks, such as tea.
• Don't have acidic foods and drinks, such as citrus fruits, fruit drinks and soda.
• Eat soft foods that don't need much chewing.

If your child can rinse without swallowing, swishing with warm salt water may be soothing. Have your child rinse many times a day to ease the pain and swelling of mouth and throat sores.

You may start by taking your child to your child's usual healthcare professional.

Here's some information to help you get ready for your appointment.

What you can do

When you make the appointment, ask if there's anything you need to do in advance. For instance, your child may not be allowed to eat for a certain number of hours before having a specific test. This is called fasting. You also can get ready by making a list of:

• Your child's symptoms. Include any that don't seem related to the reason for your appointment.
• Key personal information. Include major stresses, recent life changes and family medical history.
• All medicines, vitamins or supplements your child takes. Also include the amounts of medicines taken, called the doses.
• Questions to ask your child's healthcare professional.

Take a family member or friend along, if you can. This person can help you remember the information you're given.

For hand-foot-and-mouth disease, some basic questions to ask your healthcare professional include:

• What's likely causing my child's symptoms?
• Other than the most likely cause, what are other possible causes for my child's symptoms?
• What tests does my child need?
• What's the best course of action?
• My child has other health conditions. How can I best manage them together?
• What can I do at home to make my child more comfortable?
• Are there restrictions I need to follow for my child?
• Are there brochures or other printed material I can have? What websites do you recommend?

What to expect from your doctor

Your healthcare professional is likely to ask you questions such as:

• When did your child's symptoms begin?
• Have your child's symptoms been constant or do they happen once in a while?
• How bad are your child's symptoms?
• Has your child recently been exposed to anyone who was sick?
• Have you heard of any illnesses at your child's school or child care?
• What, if anything, seems to make your child's symptoms better?
• What, if anything, seems to make your child's symptoms worse?

What you can do in the meantime

Try not to do anything that seems to make your child's symptoms worse.

To help lessen your child's discomfort, healthcare professionals often recommend these tips:

• Get rest.
• Drink enough fluids to prevent dehydration.
• Stay away from cigarette smoke, including secondhand smoke. Also limit other things that may irritate the mouth and throat.