Herpes zoster (Shingles): treatment & prevention
31.6 هزار بار بازدید -
3 سال پیش
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Have you ever felt tingling
Have you ever felt tingling and pain in a localized area of your body? Then few days later, you developed a skin rash consisting of painful blisters with redness of the skin on either the right or left side of your body or your face. If this is the situation, then you might be suffering from an illness called shingles or herpes zoster.
How do we get shingles? Normally, after we get chickenpox in our childhood, the virus which is called varicella zoster remain inactive and dormant in our nerve cells. Then at some point when we are older or with a lower immunity, the virus gets reactivated and can cause shingles.
At the beginning, lots of patients think the rash is due to allergy or an insect bite. So, it is better to consult your doctor to confirm the
diagnosis. Then, it is very important to start a specific antiviral medication within 72 hours. This will shorten the rash duration and reduce the pain severity and might prevent the Neuralgia. This is the chronic nerve pain which might happen after shingles.
The treatment for shingles is to treat the local rash using Calamine lotion to sooth the burning sensation and antihistamine for the itching. It is very important to start oral antiviral pills, which can be either Zovirax, Valtrex or Famvir. Any of them should be taken for 7 days. In case the shingles is very severe, or if it is present on the face, near the eyes or the ears, then it is recommended to give Zovirax by intravenous injection.
One of the serious complications for shingles, especially if it was not treated early, is post herpetic neuralgia which can results in severe lasting pain in the area where you had the rash. this pain may last for few months. The treatment for this complication can range from mild pain medication or lidocaine skin patches. But for severe pain, we recommend giving some anti-seizure medications like Neurontin or Lyrica. Or antidepressants medications like amitriptyline, Cymbalta, or Effexor. In general, we try not to give narcotic pain meds to avoid addiction.
Finally, it is possible that you might get shingles more than once in your life even if you had chickenpox as a child. For this reason, it is recommended that you take the new shingles vaccine called Shingrix at age 50 years or older in 2 doses taken 2 or 6 months apart, which is the only way that might protect you against shingles.
Video shot by: Galia Helbaoui and edited by: Amer Helbaoui
How do we get shingles? Normally, after we get chickenpox in our childhood, the virus which is called varicella zoster remain inactive and dormant in our nerve cells. Then at some point when we are older or with a lower immunity, the virus gets reactivated and can cause shingles.
At the beginning, lots of patients think the rash is due to allergy or an insect bite. So, it is better to consult your doctor to confirm the
diagnosis. Then, it is very important to start a specific antiviral medication within 72 hours. This will shorten the rash duration and reduce the pain severity and might prevent the Neuralgia. This is the chronic nerve pain which might happen after shingles.
The treatment for shingles is to treat the local rash using Calamine lotion to sooth the burning sensation and antihistamine for the itching. It is very important to start oral antiviral pills, which can be either Zovirax, Valtrex or Famvir. Any of them should be taken for 7 days. In case the shingles is very severe, or if it is present on the face, near the eyes or the ears, then it is recommended to give Zovirax by intravenous injection.
One of the serious complications for shingles, especially if it was not treated early, is post herpetic neuralgia which can results in severe lasting pain in the area where you had the rash. this pain may last for few months. The treatment for this complication can range from mild pain medication or lidocaine skin patches. But for severe pain, we recommend giving some anti-seizure medications like Neurontin or Lyrica. Or antidepressants medications like amitriptyline, Cymbalta, or Effexor. In general, we try not to give narcotic pain meds to avoid addiction.
Finally, it is possible that you might get shingles more than once in your life even if you had chickenpox as a child. For this reason, it is recommended that you take the new shingles vaccine called Shingrix at age 50 years or older in 2 doses taken 2 or 6 months apart, which is the only way that might protect you against shingles.
Video shot by: Galia Helbaoui and edited by: Amer Helbaoui
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