Are There Natural Ways To Boost The Immune System To Help Lessen The Chances Of Developing Shingles
Stress is a risk factor for developing shingles. So limiting your stress can be helpful. Try meditation, yoga or other relaxation methods. Eat healthy, maintain a healthy weight, exercise regularly, get seven to nine hours of sleep each night, dont smoke these are all good living tips, not just for reducing your chance of getting shingles, but also many other diseases and health conditions too.
People Who Shouldnt Have The Vaccination
There are 2 shingles vaccines available. One contains a weakened version of the live shingles virus.
The live vaccine is the one that is routinely used in the UK but people who have weakened immune systems, for example due to cancer treatment, should not have it. They should have the inactivated shingles vaccine. Your doctor will advise whether this applies to you. Further information is available on the Shingrix vaccine.
If youve had a severe reaction to any of the substances that go into the vaccine, you shouldnt have it. Again, your GP will advise you.
The live shingles vaccine used in the UK contains porcine gelatine. Some people may not want this vaccine but it is the recommended vaccine unless you cannot have it because you have a weakened immune system.
If you have the Zostavax vaccine, you will just need one injection. If you are not eligible for the live vaccine, you will need 2 doses of the Shingrix vaccine 2 months apart to give you the best protection. Once your course is completed, you will not need any more shingles vaccines.
Preventing The Virus Spreading
If you have the shingles rash, do not share towels or flannels, go swimming, or play contact sports. This will help prevent the virus being passed on to someone who has not had chickenpox.
You should also avoid work or school if your rash is weeping and cannot be covered.
Chickenpox can be particularly dangerous for certain groups of people. If you have shingles, avoid:
- women who are pregnant and have not had chickenpox before as they could catch it from you, which may harm their unborn baby
- people who have a weak immune system, such as someone with HIV or AIDS
- babies less than one month old, unless it is your own baby, in which case your baby should have antibodies to protect them from the virus
Once your blisters have dried and scabbed over, you are no longer contagious and will not need to avoid anyone.
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How Is Shingles Treated
Not all kids who get shingles need treatment. If a doctor decides a treatment may help, it should start right away. Treatment usually includes an antiviral medicine and pain-control medicines.
Antiviral medicines like acyclovir or valcylovir :
- help heal the skin rash
- stop the virus from multiplying
- help control pain
Is There A Treatment For Shingles
Several antiviral medicines, acyclovir , valacyclovir , and famciclovir , are available to treat shingles. These medications should be started as soon as possible after the rash appears and will help shorten the illness and decrease how severe the illness is. Pain medicine may also help with pain caused by shingles. Call your provider as soon as possible to discuss treatment options.
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Precautions To Take Around People With Shingles
If youve had chickenpox or shingles before or youve received the chickenpox vaccine, you dont have to worry about getting infected yourself since youre immune to the virus. However, you dont want to unintentionally spread the virus to those whove never had chickenpox.
If youre in contact with someone with shingles, you should avoid directly touching their rash. You should also avoid touching their clothes, bedding, towels, or anything else that might have touched their rash. If you must touch these items, you should wash your hands thoroughly immediately after contact. Even if you’ve already had chickenpox, if you get the fluid from the sores on your hands, you could potentially spread the virus on accident. You could touch a doorknob and leave some of the virus behind. Wash your hands often to avoid this.
If you haven’t had chickenpox before and haven’t been vaccinated, you should avoid direct contact with shingles sores and should also avoid contact with anything the sores might have touched . Also, you should go get the chickenpox vaccine anyone 12 months or older is eligible to receive the vaccine.
What Are The Signs & Symptoms Of Shingles
Often the first shingles symptoms happen in the area where the rash will appear. A person may have tingling, itching, or pain in this area. When the rash shows up, the pain may be mild or severe.
The rash starts as groups of tiny pimples on one side of the body or the face. Its often in the shape of a band or belt. The pimples change to pus-filled blisters that break open and scab over in about 710 days. The scabs usually heal and fall off about 24 weeks after the rash starts.
Some kids with shingles also may have a fever and a headache, and might feel tired and achy. Rarely, a child has the pain of shingles without the rash. More severe symptoms can happen, but usually in people over age 50.
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What Should You Expect If You Get Shingles
Shingles can be a very painful condition. If you think you have the symptoms of shingles, see your healthcare provider right away. Starting antiviral medications early can ease your discomfort and end symptoms earlier.
A better approach to shingles is to take action and do what you can to lessen your risk of getting it. If you’ve never had shingles in the past, talk to your healthcare provider about getting the shingles vaccine. If youve never had chickenpox, talk with your healthcare provider about getting the chickenpox vaccine.
What Are The Treatments For Shingles
There is no cure for shingles. Antiviral medicines may help to make the attack shorter and less severe. They may also help prevent PHN. The medicines are most effective if you can take them within 3 days after the rash appears. So if you think you might have shingles, contact your health care provider as soon as possible.
Pain relievers may also help with the pain. A cool washcloth, calamine lotion, and oatmeal baths may help relieve some of the itching.
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The First Symptoms Of Shingles
Early symptoms of shingles can appear several days before the more obvious symptoms. However, some people will not have early symptoms before a rash appears.
The most common early symptoms occur on one part of the body or face. This often happens in the abdominal area.
These symptoms many include:
The pain can worsen as shingles develops. The pain can be sharp, stabbing, and intense.
It may also cause hypersensitivity, or an excessive reaction to touch.
There are also other early symptoms of shingles.
Although not every person with shingles will experience them, early symptoms include:
- general feeling of being unwell
Your doctor can often diagnose shingles based on these symptoms. Your doctor may prescribe medication to speed up recovery.
Medication also reduces the chance of complications, so seeking early intervention is important.
What Are The Health Complications
The most common complication of shingles is postherpetic neuralgia . PHN causes severe pain even after the shingles rash clears.
People aged 60 years and older who dont seek treatment for shingles are more likely to develop PHN.
Shingles can also cause serious sight problems if it infects the structures of the eye.
Other rare complications include:
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Which Shingles Vaccine Is Best
Eventually, your doctor will start mentioning the shingles vaccine which can help prevent shingles from developing, as well as reduce its severity if it does still develop. The shingles vaccine can also reduce your risk of postherpetic neuralgia, one of the most common complications of shingles.
Because shingles becomes increasingly more common as a person ages, the shingles vaccine is currently recommended for people over the age of 50. There are two vaccine options, Shingrix and Zostavax, with Shingrix being the newer of the two vaccines and the preferred choice as it is more effective.
When it comes to how the shingles vaccine works, Shingrix is a shot that requires two doses administered six months apart. There are temporary side of effects of this shingles vaccine that can be unpleasant, however. Shingles vaccine side effects typically dont last more than three days, but include:
You Can Get Shingles More Than Once
Most people will only have one outbreak of shingles in their lifetime, but âin rare cases, it can reactivate a second time and cause another episode of shingles,â says Amesh A. Adalja, MD, an infectious disease physician and senior scholar at Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.
A second or third bout of shingles happens the same way as a first outbreak the virus reactivates and spreads to your skin. However, experts donât know exactly what causes the virus to deactivate and reactivate.
A study published in 2011 in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings found that among more than 1600 shingles patients, about 5% experienced a second outbreak. It is possible to have a third outbreak of shingles, but this happens very rarely.
Keep in mind that if youâve already had shingles once, you canât get infected again from someone with shingles or chickenpox. The only way that you can have multiple bouts of shingles is through the reactivation of the dormant virus in your own body.
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Is Shingles Airborne
While chickenpox is an airborne disease, with shingles the virus can only be transmitted by contact with fluid from the rash or blisters if the person with shingles has a localized rash and has a competent immune system. In such people, airborne transmission is not a concern.
However, for people who are immunocompromised or have disseminated zoster with lesions outside of the primary area, airborne transmission is possible.
How Does It Spread
Shingles spreads via contact with the fluid or pus in a persons blisters.
If a person comes into contact with this, they may develop chickenpox if they have never had it or the varicella vaccine, also known as the chickenpox vaccine.
Shingles can transmit via coughing and sneezing only if blisters have developed in the persons oral cavity.
- practicing good hand hygiene by frequently washing both hands
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Who Is Eligible For The Vaccine
People aged 70 years of age are eligible for the vaccine.
The vaccine is also available for those previously eligible but who missed immunisation. For example, anyone in their 70s who has not yet had the vaccine.
You become eligible for the shingles vaccine as you turn 70 and remain eligible up to the age of 79.
People under 70 years of age are at lower risk of shingles but will become eligible for the vaccine when they turn 70. People aged 80 years and over are not eligible for the shingles vaccination because the vaccine becomes less effective as people get older. If you are worried about shingles speak to your GP.
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How You Catch The Varicella
Shingles is not contagious. You cant catch shingles from someone. However, a person with shingles can pass along VZV to people who have never contracted chickenpox.
VZV can be transmitted from a person with shingles to someone who has never had chickenpox via direct contact with fluid from shingles rash or blisters. Its not possible to pass along VZV before shingles blisters appear or after lesions crust over.
However, shingles is a lot less contagious than chickenpox. By covering up your rash, you can prevent the spread of the virus.
Shingles usually happens many years after an initial chickenpox infection. The first sign of an infection is a one-sided rash on the face or body. It takes up to 10 days for the rash and blisters to crust over. It will clear up entirely several weeks later.
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How Is Shingles Spread
A person must have already had chickenpox in the past to develop shingles. A person cannot get shingles from a person that has shingles. However, the virus that causes chickenpox and shingles can be spread from a person with active shingles to a person who has never had chickenpox or had the chickenpox vaccine. The person exposed to the virus would develop chickenpox, not shingles. A person with shingles can spread the virus when the rash is in the blister-phase. The blister fluid is filled with virus particles. The virus is spread through direct contact with the rash or through breathing in virus particles that get mixed in the air. Once the rash has developed crusts, the person is no longer contagious. A person is not infectious before blisters appear or if pain persists after the rash is gone .
Shingles The Symptoms And What Should You Do
Shingles is a condition that is caused by the reactivation of the chickenpox virus. Once youve had chickenpox, the virus stays dormant in your nervous system and later in life can reactivate, and cause shingles. It is not fully known what causes the virus to reactivate, but this often occurs many years after the original chickenpox infection. Shingles tend to occur more often in older people and usually causes a painful rash on one side of the body. As older people are more likely to get shingles, the new national shingles immunisation programme for people aged 70 to 79 has been introduced by the Department of Health from September, to help protect those most at risk from shingles.
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How Long Is Shingles Contagious
Shingles is not contagious. But if someone comes into contact with the rash at a certain stage, they may contract the varicella-zoster virus and develop chickenpox. If they have chickenpox, shingles can develop later in life.
To prevent the virus from being transmitted, keep shingles rashes covered. Cover the rash from when the blisters appear to when they crust and scab over. According to the , this usually takes 7 to 10 days.
The rash will usually clear after 2 to 4 weeks.
What Are The Complications Of Shingles
After the shingles rash has disappeared, you might continue to have nerve pain in that same area. This pain, called postherpetic neuralgia, can last for months or years and become quite severe.
About 10% to 15% of people who get shingles develop postherpetic neuralgia. Researchers dont know why some people get postherpetic neuralgia and others dont. It may be that nerves become more sensitive or the virus may be invading and damaging the central nervous system.
Other complications include other types of nerve issues like numbness or itching, bacterial infection of the shingles rash, and eye and ear inflammation if the rash is near these organs.
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Are There Complications Of Shingles
Shingles can have complications that last long after the rash is gone, including:
- Brain inflammation or facial paralysis if it affects certain nerves
- Eye problems and vision loss if your rash was in or around your eye
- Pain that lasts long after the outbreak, called postherpetic neuralgia. It affects up to 1 in 5 people who get shingles.
How Is Shingles Diagnosed
Doctor usually can diagnose shingles by looking at the rash. Rarely, a doctor may send a small sample of infected skin to be checked in a laboratory.
If you think your child might have shingles, call your doctor. If your child might have shingles on the face, its important to get a doctors help right away to keep the infection from spreading to the eyes.
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Can I Go To Work With Shingles
You can go to work if you have shingles and are no longer contagious. However, you may need to wait until youre feeling better. Shingles can be excruciating and debilitating.
Youre no longer contagious when the rash and blisters begin to scab over. This is typically 10 days after the rash first crops up.
Early Symptoms Of Shingles
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What is shingles?
The same virus that causes chickenpox causes shingles. Its called the varicella zoster virus .
VZV stays dormant in your body even after you recover from chickenpox. The chickenpox virus can reactivate years or even decades later, but its not understood why.
When this happens, a person will develop shingles. Recognizing the early symptoms is important because it can be a painful condition with severe complications.
state that almost 1 in 3 people in the US will develop shingles in their lifetime. But some people are more likely to develop shingles than others.
It is that half of all cases of shingles occur in people aged 60 years and older.
Other groups prone to developing shingles include:
- people who have had organ transplants
- people experiencing a lot of stress
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Some People Are More Likely To Have A Second Outbreak
Experts donât know exactly why the shingles virus reactivates, Adalja says, but it likely has to do with a weakened immune system. Some factors that may weaken your immune system and contribute to shingles outbreaks include:
- Old age: Most people get shingles over the age of 50 and your risk gets higher as you get older.
- Sex:Women over the age of 50 are also more likely to have a second shingles outbreak than men of the same age.
- Stress: Your body reacts to emotional stress by releasing a hormone called cortisol, and this hormone can make your immune system less effective.
- Chemotherapy: The medications used to treat cancer can make your immune system weaker.
- HIV and AIDS: Autoimmune disorders like HIV and AIDS can put you at much higher risk for shingles.
- Organ or bone marrow transplants: Before you get a transplant, you often need to take medication to weaken your immune system, so that your body will not reject the new tissue.