Do You Always Get The Typical Rash If You Have Shingles
Occasionally, some people dont get a rash. If you have any of the other symptoms of shingles , see your healthcare provider sooner rather than later. There are effective treatments you can take early for shingles. Even if you dont have shingles, seeing your healthcare provider will help you get your condition diagnosed and treated.
Do You Need To Stay Away From Children People Who Are Pregnant Have Cancer Or Anyone With A Weak Immune System After You Get The Zostavax Vaccine
According to the CDC, its safe to be around babies and young children, pregnant women or anyone with a weakened immune system after you get the Zostavax vaccine. Even though the Zostavax vaccine contains a weakened live varicella-zoster virus, the CDC says theres no documented case of a person getting chickenpox from someone who has received the Zostavax vaccine. And remember: You cant get shingles unless youve already had chickenpox.
How Is Postherpetic Neuralgia Treated
Treatments include lotions or creams and/or other medications not specifically used for pain, such as antidepressants or drugs for epilepsy. Regular pain relievers are not usually effective for this type of pain.
If pain doesnt lessen, other treatments such as nerve blocks or steroid injections near the area where the nerves exit the spine can be tried. Implantable nerve stimulator devices are an option for severe, ongoing pain that has not responded to other treatments.
Also Check: How Long Does The Nerve Pain Last From Shingles
Can You Eat Eggs When You Have Shingles
shinglesegg
. Also, what should you not eat when you have shingles?
However, you should avoid certain foods if you have shingles. Foods to avoid include: food and juices with high amounts of sugar. arginine-rich foods 5.Dietary remedies
Subsequently, question is, what should you not do when you have shingles? 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.
Besides, can foods trigger shingles?
Avoid food and juices that are high in sugar and saturated fat, refined carbohydrates, and foods like chocolate, gelatin, nuts, and seeds that contain arginine, an amino acid that can cause the HZ virus to reproduce. The best way to manage shingles is to protect against developing them at all.
Are bananas good for shingles?
Foods to include are brewers yeast, sweet potatoes, bananas, grass-fed beef, cultured dairy, eggs, organic chicken, whole grains, and vegetables. Vitamin C rich foods Vitamin C helps to boost your immunity and also speed up the skins healing.
people with shinglesShingleshasyou hadyoushinglessomeone
Treatment If The Condition Gets Worse
In some cases, shingles causes long-term complications. Treatment depends on the specific complication.
- Post-herpetic neuralgia is persistent pain that lasts months or even years after the shingles rash heals. Certain medicines, such as anticonvulsants, antidepressants, and opioids, can relieve pain. Most cases of PHN resolve within a year.
- Disseminated zoster is a blistery rash over a large portion of the body. It may affect the heart, lungs, liver, pancreas, joints, and intestinal tract. Treatment may include both antiviral medicines to prevent the virus from multiplying and antibiotics to stop infection.
- Herpes zoster ophthalmicus is a rash on the forehead, cheek, nose, and around one eye, which could threaten your sight. You should seek prompt treatment from an ophthalmologist for this condition. Treatment may include rest, cool compresses, and antiviral medicines.
- If the shingles virus affects the nerves originating in the brain , serious complications involving the face, eyes, nose, and brain can occur. Treatment depends on the nature and location of the complication.
Read Also: What Should You Do When You Have Shingles
Foods That Knock Shingles Pain Off The Roof
Once I laughed at Woody Allens joke identifying his then wife in a photograph taken in front of their house, as she is the one with the shingles. But when my childhood chickenpox virus came roaring back recently with the excruciating pain of shingles, that story wasnt funny anymore, just cruel.
Nor did I find comfort in knowing I wasnt alone, but merely one of about a million U.S. adults attacked every year by the suddenly awakened Varicella Zoster virus.
Following Hippocrates sage advice, Make food thy medicine, I jumpstarted my self-healing campaign by taking daily doses of the best food-based probiotic supplements I could find, to replenish the friendly flora in my gut and boost my immune system.
kimchi
All the above contain various amounts of essential bacteria, most brimming with billions of lactobacillus varieties, acidophilus and bifidobacterium.
Weather you are in the throes of a shingle attack right now, or merely want to arm yourself with information about self-healing methods, just in case, you probably wont mind if I put on my Kitchen Shrink hat and guide you through some self-healing information you could adapt for your own campaign:
Alcoholic beverages, too, are on the NO list since they interfere with the bodys immune responses as are all caffeine-containing foods and beverages that intensify the already jangling nerves of shingles.
Tzatziki Garlic and Yogurt Dip
1 ½ cups plain Greek or goat yoghurt
2 garlic cloves, crushed
Pain Relief And What Not To Eat When You Have Shingles
Shingles, or herpes zoster, is a secondary outbreak of the chicken pox virus. Even if you suffered chicken pox as a kid, the virus continues to lie dormant in the nerve cells of your body, near your spinal cord and brain. Research suggests that the virus can reactivate anytime the bodys immune system is compromised, which could happen when were stressed, suffering from lack of sleep, or even anxious.
Doctors will prescribe just about anything for shingles to help ease the pain and discomfort from painkillers, antidepressants, and topical petrochemical creams, to anti-inflammatories and antibiotics, steroids, and antiviral medications.
If you have shingles, you have to get more help than what doctors offer, that is for sure. You need to look at your overall diet and lifestyle to properly deal with shingles.
Bottom line: Shingles damages your nervous system and alters natural balance and neurological core control. With clients who suffer with shingles, we encourage changing their diet and looking at their overall lifestyle.
Also Check: What Does The Shingles Vaccine Do
Tips For Managing Shingles
Helping Herpes zoster patients feel more comfortable
Prompt treatment of Herpes zoster with antiviral and pain medications within 72 hours of the rashs onset can help shorten its duration and reduce complications. But what can patients do to deal with the burning, tingling, numbness, and itching that accompany the rash? Here are a few ideas pharmacists can share with them.
1. Relieve Physical Symptoms
A healing oatmeal bath using cool water, or the application of cool compresses or ice packs, can help calm the itch. Allow the skin to air dry before covering the blisters with a light application of calamine or unscented lotion.
Tell patients not to open the blisters, which can cause permanent scarring. They should cover the rash with nonstick sterile bandages. Alternatively, the patient can wear loose-fitting, natural fiber clothing to allow the skin to breathe.
San Francisco board-certified dermatologist Marie Jhin, MD prescribes gabapentin for nerve pain. If its really painful, we give oral steroids or even a shot of steroids. A lidocaine or capsaicin patch can also help, she says.
2. Reduce Stress
Physical and emotional stress can weaken the immune system and act as a trigger for shingles. Stress can also cause a patient to feel the physical symptoms more intensely and suppress the immune system, delaying recovery and leading to serious complications like postherpetic neuralgia.
3. Improve Diet
4. Get Vaccinated
How Long Does A Shingles Outbreak Last
It can take three to five weeks from the time you begin to feel symptoms until the rash totally disappears.
Don’t Miss: What Is The New Shingle Shot Called
What Are The Symptoms
The first sign of shingles is often burning, sharp pain, tingling, or numbness in your skin on one side of your body or face. The most common site is the back or upper abdomen. You may have severe itching or aching. You also may feel tired and ill with fever, chills, headache, and upset stomach or belly pain.
One to 14 days after you start feeling pain, you will notice a rash of small blisters on reddened skin. Within a few days after they appear, the blisters will turn yellow, then dry and crust over. Over the next 2 weeks the crusts drop off, and the skin continues to heal over the next several days to weeks.
Because shingles usually follows nerve paths, the blisters are usually found in a line, often extending from the back or side around to the belly. The blisters are almost always on just one side of the body. Shingles usually doesn’t cross the midline of the body. The rash also may appear on one side of your face or scalp. The painful rash may be in the area of your ear or eye. When shingles occurs on the head or scalp, symptoms can include headaches and weakness of one side of the face, which causes that side of the face to look droopy. The symptoms usually go away eventually, but it may take many months.
In some cases the pain can last for weeks, months, or years, long after the rash heals. This is called postherpetic neuralgia.
Help Is Available For Phn
Fortunately,early treatment for shingles can lower your chances of getting PHN.
For some people, the pain becomes refractory, or resistant to treatment, explains Dr. Rosenquist. So we want to treat shingles as fast as we can ideally as soon as somebody feels a tingling or burning sensation, even before a rash develops.
Sheadds that whenever nerve pain is involved, some people respond to treatment andsome dont.
However,medications taken orally or injected that can target the affected nerves may beable to stun the nervous system into behaving properly. That meanstransmitting the appropriate signal to the brain.
You May Like: How Contagious Is Shingles Virus
Skin Care And Itch Relief For Shingles
To relieve itching and discomfort, try:
- A cool, wet compresses on the affected skin
- Soothing baths and lotions, such as colloidal oatmeal bath, starch baths, or calamine lotion
- Zostrix, a cream that contains capsaicin
- Antihistamines to reduce itching
Keep your skin clean. Throw away bandages you use to cover your skin sores. Throw away or wash in hot water clothing that has contact with your skin sores. Wash your sheets and towels in hot water.
While your skin sores are still open and oozing, avoid all contact with anyone who has never had chickenpox, especially pregnant women.
Diarrhea Or Loose Stools
Dr. Salem explains, “Diarrhea may be a sign of a problem in your digestive tract. A bulk forming fiber supplement such as psyllium husk is always a good start, but medical testing for conditions like Celiac disease or Inflammatory bowel disease can help identify the cause and what specific measures would be most helpful in each individual.”
You May Like: How To Remove Algae From Shingles
Avoid Intense Or Irritating Movement
According to the American Academy of Family Physicians, shingles rashes most often appear on the trunk of the body, which includes your:
Shingles rashes can also occur on the:
With that in mind, its best to avoid activities that require you to lay on these areas, like exercising on the floor or a workout bench. For instance, if youre doing gentle yoga, skip any poses that have you lying in the prone or supine position, where your belly or back are touching the floor, respectively.
Additionally, intense cardiovascular exercise like running or cycling may irritate a shingles rash, especially in the early stages.
As you heal, consider switching to lower-intensity workouts like walking until the blisters dry up and crust over. According to the National Institute on Aging , this generally takes around 7 to 10 days after a rash appears.
If possible, hold off on high intensity exercise until the scabs are completely cleared up, which may take 2 to 5 weeks.
Also Check: Shingles On Ankles And Feet
Recipe: Tzatziki Garlic Dip
Ingredients: 1.5 cups plain Greek yoghurt 2 garlic cloves, crushed 2 Persian cucumbers, diced juice and zest from one Meyer lemon 1 tablespoon each fresh dill and mint, chopped 1 tablespoon olive oil
Method: Blend ingredients in a glass bowl. Chill. Serve as a dipping sauce for fresh vegetables, drizzle on burgers, pitas or kebobs.
Catharine Kaufman can be reached at
Recommended Reading: Can Shingles Be On Your Legs
Focus On Prevention Doctors Say
Prevention is the best way to avoid a shingles episode.
There is a vaccine that prevents the onset of shingles in people exposed to chickenpox. The CDC recommends that people age 60 and older get one dose of the vaccine. Vaccines are readily available at a doctors office and drug stores. In 2011, the Food and Drug Administration extended the vaccine use for people aged 50 to 59.
Wigand-Bolling said the vaccine reduces the incidence of shingles by 51% and the neuralgia associated with shingles by 67%. The doctor said the vaccine is injected and once vaccinated a person is protected for life.
Unless contraindicated because of pregnancy or being an organ transplant recipient or on chemotherapy, everyone over age 50 should be vaccinated, Wigand-Bolling said. I would recommend getting vaccinated to patients who may not have had chicken pox, or those who dont remember having chicken pox.
More than 90% of those identified in the study at increased risk of stroke and heart attack after a shingles episode hadn’t been vaccinated for shingles. The people in the study who had the vaccine still got shingles, it’s worth noting.
Signs Your Digestive System Isn’t As Strong As It Should Be
Everyone has digestive issues from time to time, but when symptoms become a regular occurrence, it could mean you have a digestive problem. According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, 60-70 million Americans live with digestive disease and knowing the signs iis vital to getting a quicker diagnosis and treatment. Eat This, Not That! Health spoke with Dr. Suhail Salem, M.D., Gastroenterologist with Dignity Health Northridge Hospital and United Medical Doctors who shares what to know about your digestive system and signs that indicate a problem. As always, please consult your physician for medical advice. Read onand to ensure your health and the health of others, don’t miss these Sure Signs You’ve Already Had COVID.
Don’t Miss: Where To Get The Shingles Vaccine For Free
Is Exercise Beneficial For Shingles Nerve Pain
When You Have PHN, You Should Exercise
When it comes to treating pain and other PHN symptoms, simple, moderate exercise may be just what your doctor prescribes. Exercise has a number of advantages, including increased energy and muscular strength, as well as the ability to decrease discomfort and make daily tasks simpler.
Heal Your Inner Ecosystem To Support Your Immunity
A diet that builds the immune system and doesnt feed a virus is essential. Our highly effective Antiviral Protocol is ideal for times when you suspect a viral exposure or when you feel an outbreak coming on.
On a daily basis, the Body Ecology Way of Living provides a great way to strengthen your body against viral and fungal infections by cultivating a robust and balanced inner ecosystem of beneficial microbes.
With a focus on adding specificfermented foods and drinks, following the Body Ecology program populates your intestines with probiotics that help aid digestion, increase nutrient absorption, and improve your immunity making you less susceptible to infections of all kinds.
Obtain your protein from these sources:
Alkalizing is key:
- As soon as you feel the slightest sign of a potential viral outbreak, stop everything you are doing. Sit down, put up your feet, and slowly sip on a 12-ounce glass of water with 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar added to it. If its too sour for you, then add a few drops of BE Sweet to taste.
- Eat mostly veggies, especially raw because raw is cooling. Use them to make smoothies. But avoid sweet veggies like baked sweet potato.
- Eat alkalizing, fermented vegetables and homemade pickles. And, please, dont throw away the juice they are fermenting in. That fermented juice is excellent for you, as are our probiotic liquids: InnergyBiotic and CocoBiotic.
Don’t Miss: How To Get A Free Shingles Shot
How Is Shingles Diagnosed
Once the rash appears, the signs and symptoms are usually clear enough for a doctor to make a diagnosis. Before the rash appears, or in cases where there is no rash, diagnosis is more challenging.
Herpes zoster is sometimes confused with herpes simplex. Skin symptoms may also be mistaken for impetigo, contact dermatitis, folliculitis, scabies, insect bites, psoriasis, papular urticaria, candidal infection, dermatitis herpetiformis, and drug eruptions, adds the CDC.
Shingles, however, has two features that distinguish it from conditions with similar symptoms: its flu-like onset and the severe pain that follows.
Editor’s Picks