Pain Relief For Shingles On Torso

Which Groups To Avoid If You Have Shingles

Pregnant women who have not had chickenpox should avoid people with shingles. See the separate leaflet called Chickenpox Contact in Pregnancy for more details. Also, if you have a poor immune system , you should avoid people with shingles. These general rules are to be on the safe side, as it is direct contact with the rash that usually passes on the virus.

Can Shingles Be Prevented Or Avoided

The best way to prevent shingles is through vaccination. Vaccinate your children for chickenpox. This vaccine reduces their risk for getting chickenpox. You cant get shingles unless youve had chickenpox first.

When you are older, get the shingles vaccine. It is recommended for adults 50 years of age and older. It can prevent shingles. People who have had shingles should get the vaccine to help stop the disease from reoccurring. Common side effects of the vaccine are headache, plus redness, swelling, itching, and soreness at the injection site.

The shingles vaccine is not recommended for anyone who:

• Has had an allergic reaction to gelatin or the antibiotic neomycin
• Has an allergy to any component of the shingles vaccine
• Has a weakened immune system due to conditions such as leukemia, HIV, or AIDS
• Is receiving treatment for cancer
• Is being treated with drugs that suppress their immune system, including high-dose steroids
• Is pregnant or might become pregnant within 4 weeks of getting the vaccine

Who Gets Postherpetic Neuralgia

About 1 out of 5 people who have shingles will have these sharp, ongoing pains afterward. Certain things can increase your chances of getting it:

• Age: Most people who get postherpetic neuralgia are older than 60.
• Gender: Women seem to get it more than men.
• Early symptoms: People who have numbness, tingling, or itching before a shingles rash even appears tend to get the lingering pain later.
• Pain at the start: If you had severe pain or a rash during the beginning of your outbreak, you have a greater chance of the neuralgia later.
• Other health problems: People with ongoing conditions that can weaken the immune system, like HIV and cancer, seem more likely to get it.

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How Long Will The Effects Last

The rash from shingles will heal in 1 to 3 weeks and the pain or irritation will usually go away in 3 to 5 weeks. When shingles occurs on the head or scalp, the symptoms usually go away eventually, but it may take many months.

If the virus damages a nerve, you may have pain, numbness, or tingling for months or even years after the rash is healed. This is called postherpetic neuralgia. This chronic condition is most likely to occur after a shingles outbreak in people over 50 years old. Taking antiviral medicine as soon as the shingles is diagnosed may help prevent this problem.

When To Seek Medical Advice

Shingles is not usually serious, but you should see your GP as soon as possible if you recognise the symptoms. Early treatment may help reduce the severity of your symptoms and the risk of developing complications.

You should also see your GP if you are pregnant or have a weakened immune system and you think you have been exposed to someone with chickenpox or shingles and haven’t had chickenpox before.

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When Should I See A Doctor Because Of The Side Effects I Experience From Shingrix

Shingrix causes a strong response in your immune system, so it may produce short-term side effects. These side effects can be uncomfortable, but they are expected and usually go away on their own in 2 or 3 days. You may choose to take over-the-counter pain medicine such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen. Contact your healthcare provider if the symptoms are not improving or if they are getting worse.

In clinical trials, Shingrix was not associated with serious adverse events. In fact, serious side effects from vaccines are extremely rare. For example, for every 1 million doses of a vaccine given, only one or two people might have a severe allergic reaction. Signs of an allergic reaction happen within minutes or hours after vaccination and include hives, swelling of the face and throat, difficulty breathing, a fast heartbeat, dizziness, or weakness. If you experience these or any other life-threatening symptoms, see a doctor right away.

What Does Postherpetic Neuralgia Feel Like

You usually have pain on one side of your body, where you had the blisters. The feeling is described as shooting, sharp, or stabbing. Other signs you have neuralgia include:

• It hurts to be touched: Sometimes, you canât bear clothing rubbing on your skin. You might feel discomfort from a light breeze.
• Long-lasting pain: This condition can last 3 months or longer after the shingles rash has healed. In some people, itâs permanent. For most, it gets better over time.
• Other sensations: Sometimes, you might feel burning, itching, tingling, or aching along with the shooting feelings. Some people feel numb or get headaches.
• You may also get a fever and generally feel worn-out.

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Is It Possible To Avoid Shingles

Most people get shingles only once, but it is possible to get it two or more times.

Anyone who has had chickenpox can get shingles later in life. There is a shingles vaccine that may help prevent shingles, or make it less painful. The vaccine is recommended for adults ages 60 and older, even if theyve previous had shingles.

For children and adults who never had chickenpox, there is a vaccine that can help avoid getting the virus that causes both chickenpox and shingles.

For anyone who has never had chickenpox and has not received the chickenpox vaccine, it is best to avoid contact with people who have shingles or chickenpox. Fluid from shingles blisters is contagious and can cause chickenpox, but not shingles.

How Do Dermatologists Treat Shingles

An antiviral medication can:

• Reduce the amount of time that you have a shingles rash

• Lower your risk of developing long-lasting nerve pain and other health problems

One of three antiviral medications is usually prescribedacyclovir, famciclovir, or valacyclovir.

To treat your symptoms, dermatologists typically recommend the following:

Pain: Medication that you can buy without a prescription can help, such as:

If you have severe pain, your dermatologist may prescribe a medication that reduces inflammation, such as a corticosteroid.

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How Does It Occur

If you have had chickenpox, you are at risk for later developing shingles. After you recover from chickenpox, the chickenpox virus stays in your body. It moves to the roots of your nerve cells and becomes inactive . Later, if the virus becomes active again, shingles is the name given to the symptoms it causes.

What exactly causes the virus to become active is not known. A weakened immune system seems to allow reactivation of the virus. This may occur with normal aging, immune-suppressing medicines, or another illness, or after major surgery. It can also happen as a complication of cancer or AIDS or treatment of these illnesses. Chronic use of steroid drugs may trigger shingles. The virus may also become active again after the skin is injured or sunburned. Emotional stress seems to be a common trigger as well.

Pain Relief For Shingles

The pain after the shingles look better is the part people have trouble with, called post-herpetic neuralgia. It consists of sharp, shooting pain in the region where the outbreak occurred and can persist for years after the initial outbreak. Up to 60% of people over the age of 60 who got shingles go on to develop this chronic condition.

Dont be passive with your treatment of shingles. Keep seeking alternative care options and dont rely on medication to cure your symptoms or relieve your pain.

Reducing stress wherever possible can help you recover from shingles. Using MELT Method can help reduce the daily accumulation of stress. My suggestion is to do the following treatments at least 3-4 times a week:

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What If I Have Shingles And A Poor Immune System

If you have a poor immune system and develop shingles then see your doctor straightaway. You will normally be given antiviral medication whatever your age and will be monitored for complications. People with a poor immune system include:

• People taking high-dose steroids. per day for more than one week in the previous three months. Or, children who have taken steroids within the previous three months, equivalent to prednisolone 2 mg/kg per day for at least one week, or 1 mg/kg per day for one month.)
• People on lower doses of steroids in combination with other immunosuppressant medicines.
• People taking anti-arthritis medications which can affect the bone marrow.
• People being treated with chemotherapy or generalised radiotherapy, or who have had these treatments within the previous six months.
• People who have had an organ transplant and are on immunosuppressive treatment.
• People who have had a bone marrow transplant and who are still immunosuppressed.
• People with an impaired immune system.
• People who are immunosuppressed with HIV infection.

How To Treat Nerve Pain Caused By Shingles

This article was medically reviewed by Luba Lee, FNP-BC, MS. Luba Lee, FNP-BC is a board certified Family Nurse Practitioner and educator in Tennessee with over a decade of clinical experience. Luba has certifications in Pediatric Advanced Life Support , Emergency Medicine, Advanced Cardiac Life Support , Team Building, and Critical Care Nursing. She received her Master of Science in Nursing from the University of Tennessee in 2006.There are 31 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page.wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. In this case, 84% of readers who voted found the article helpful, earning it our reader-approved status. This article has been viewed 88,320 times.

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Shingles And Your Eyes

If the shingles rash breaks out on the face, near the eye, the vision may be affected. An ophthalmologist should be consulted right away when pain or other symptoms of shingles affect the eye or the area near the eye.

Shingles painand other symptoms from an outbreak of herpes zosterusually lasts between three to five weeks. Most people experience shingles once, but in some instances, people will continue to experience pain. When this happens, its called postherpetic neuralgia .

Antiviral Medicines For Shingles

Antiviral medicines used to treat shingles include aciclovir, famciclovir and valaciclovir. An antiviral medicine is not a cure for shingles, it does not kill the virus but works by stopping the virus from multiplying. So, it may limit the severity of symptoms of the shingles episode.

An antiviral medicine is most useful when started in the early stages of shingles . However, in some cases your doctor may still advise you have an antiviral medicine even if the rash is more than 72 hours old – particularly in elderly people with severe shingles, or if shingles affects an eye.

Antiviral medicines are not advised routinely for everybody with shingles. As a general rule, the following groups of people who develop shingles will normally be advised to take an antiviral medicine:

• If you are over the age of 50. The older you are, the more risk there is of severe shingles or complications developing and the more likely you are to benefit from treatment.
• If you are of any age and have any of the following:
• Shingles that affects the eye or ear.
• A poorly functioning immune system .
• Shingles that affects any parts of the body apart from the trunk .
• Moderate or severe pain.

If prescribed, a course of an antiviral medicine normally lasts seven days.

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How Is Shingles Diagnosed

Your healthcare provider will do a complete physical exam and ask about your medical history, specifically about whether you have ever had chickenpox.

Your healthcare provider will likely know right away that it is shingles based on the unique rash. The rash usually appears one area on one side of the body or face. It appears as red spots, small fluid- or pus-filled vesicles, or scabs.

The healthcare provider may also take skin scrapings for testing.

What Is The Best Medication For Shingles

Your healthcare provider will determine the best medication for your case of shingles based on your symptoms, medical history, and response to shingles treatment. Heres an overview of the popular shingles medications that your doctor may prescribe.

Dosage is determined by your healthcare provider based on your medical condition, response to treatment, age, and weight.

Other possible side effects exist. This is not a complete list.

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Key Points About Shingles

• Shingles is a common viral infection of the nerves. It causes a painful rash or small blisters on an area of skin.
• Shingles is caused when the chickenpox virus is reactivated.
• It is more common in people with weakened immune systems, and in people over the age of 50.
• Shingles starts with skin sensitivity, tingling, itching, and/or pain followed by rash that looks like small, red spots that turn into blisters.
• The rash is typically affects just one area on one side of the body or face.
• Treatment that is started as soon as possible helps reduce the severity of the disease.

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Can I Give Shingles To Others

No one can catch shingles from you. But the virus can be spread to a person who has never had chickenpox. The virus lives in the blisters that shingles causes. It can be spread until the blisters are completely healed. If you have blisters that have not crusted over yet, you should stay away from:

• Anyone who has never had chickenpox
• Babies under 12 months old
• Very sick people

Tell your doctor if you live with children who have not had chickenpox. They may need to be vaccinated.

Shingles And Nerve Paths

Shingles is caused by a reactivation of the virus that causes chickenpox. Only people whove had chickenpox or chickenpox vaccines can develop shingles. Having a chickenpox vaccine can lead to shingles because the vaccine contains the virus that causes chickenpox.

Shingles isnt contagious, but people who have not had chickenpox can develop chickenpox if they come in contact with open blisters of somebody with shingles.

After your body fights off a chickenpox infection, the herpes zoster virus remains dormant in your cranial nerves and spinal ganglia until it becomes reactivated. Spinal ganglia are nerve cells that connect your spinal cord to nerves in your body and limbs.

The virus reactivates when your immune system is no longer able to suppress it. Reactivation most commonly occurs in older adults because the immune system tends to get weaker with age, as well as in people with suppressed immune systems.

Once the virus is active, it usually spreads down sensory nerve fibers that lead from your spinal cord to your skin. These nerves carry sensory information like feelings of pain, itchiness, or pressure from your skin to your spinal cord and brain.

Once the virus gets to the end of these sensory nerves, it reaches your skin and usually leads to a rash. This rash often shows up in one or two nearby areas of skin called dermatomes.

A dermatome is an area of your skin where the sensation is supplied by one spinal nerve.

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Shingles Pain And Other Symptoms

Shingles are not life-threatening, but the pain can cause worry for many patients. It will most likely present right before developing a large rash all over large areas of the torso. However, shingles pain can occur even if a rash never occurs. Some patients develop postherpetic neuralgia, which causes shingles pain even after the blisters have healed. Other signs and symptoms of shingles include:

• Pain or burning in the skin
• Tingling or numbness in large areas of the skin
• Sensitivity to light or touch
• A red rash or blisters

Can I Prevent Shingles

There are two shingles vaccines. Shingrix is recommended over the older vaccine, Zostavax, because it is more than 90% effective in preventing a shingles outbreak

Who should get it: The CDC recommends that you get this vaccine if youâre a healthy adult age 50 or older, whether or not you remember having had chickenpox, because most people have been exposed to the virus. If you have had the Zostavax vaccine, you can also have Shingrix.

How many shots do you need? You would need two shots for Shingrix: One at first, with a follow-up in 2 to 6 months.

What it does:Shingrix reduces your chance of getting shingles by more than 90%. Even if you still get shingles, the vaccine may help it be less painful.

I never had chickenpox. Do I still need the shingles vaccine? Yes, you do. Shingrix is recommended for everyone age 50 or older, whether or not you remember having had chickenpox.

If Iâve had shingles, can I still get the vaccine? Yes. It may help prevent you having another bout of shingles later on. If you have shingles right now, you should wait until the rash is gone before you get vaccinated.

Donât get the Shingrix vaccine if you:

• Are allergic to any of the ingredients
• Are pregnant or nursing
• Have tested negative for immunity to the chickenpox virus. Ask your doctor about the chickenpox vaccine instead.
• Have shingles now

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