How would you guess that you have got shingles? Shingles pain is one of the clear indications, but it occurs in stages and certain patterns. First, you need to know that shingles are a manifestation of the same virus that causes chicken pox. It is known as varicella zoster. That’s the virus. The disease is called herpes zoster. You probably contracted chicken pox as a child. You may remember the spots, the itching, the feelings of tiredness and illness. Well, the chicken pox didn’t just go away when it went away. It went into hiding. That varicella zoster virus retreated to some of your nerve centers near the spine.
So, what is it doing back again? It came back again because for some reason your immune system took a hit. You may be under terrible stress. You may have HIV. You may be under treatment for cancer. Radiation and chemo can affect your immune system. Perhaps you had an organ transplant and had to go on immunosuppressant medications. Whatever is going on to knock down your immune system, the varicella zoster broke out of hiding and is on a tear. The virus tracks outward along your nerve axon fibers toward the skin surface. When it gets to the skin, a spotty rash develops in the pattern made by your nerve endings. And those nerve endings catch fire with pain.
When you first start to get shingles, you will likely have something that feels like the flu. This can last for a couple of days or more. Then you may feel some tingling, or itching at the site on the skin where the virus will come out. The skin will be affected on the stomach, sides of the back, arms, legs, face or forehead. After that, get ready for the real shingles pain.
The next stage is the worst. This is when blisters form on the skin. The blisters will be along one side of the body, and will sting, and hurt like hell. The blisters will usually form a pattern like stripes or bands. This is one of the major tip-offs that it is herpes zoster. The blisters last for a couple of weeks or more. Blisters begin with clear fluid inside. In a few days, the fluid becomes milky, then after about a week, will crust over. This is the time that you may have the most pain and discomfort. There are some cases, however, where people do not even develop blisters.
For most people, that’s it. The pain goes away, and life is good again. For some, however, pain becomes lasting, or chronic. This is called postherpetic neuralgia. This chronic pain can last a month or more. It can even continue for years. The pain is piercing, and unstopping. A breeze brushing clothing against the skin in this area can cause intense pain. It can become so extreme that all normal life functioning can be affected.
Shingles Pain Treatment
If you’re currently suffering from Shingles and searching for the most effective Shingles pain treatment, you’re in the correct place. It’s really important to start treating Shingles as soon as you possibly can, as it can certainly lessen the severity of the condition as well as the length.
In the following paragraphs, I am going to reveal to you several easy Shingles pain treatment which you can use immediately.
- Ice Pack Or Wet Cloth
Numerous Shingles affected individuals have reported using an ice pack or a wet cloth can in the short term be utilized for a Shingles pain treatment. You want to make sure that the skin and also the infected area is thoroughly clean just before utilizing an ice pack or wet cloth since you don’t want to have an infection. However, the ice pack may help relieve any pain or even discomfort by numbing the actually infected nerve area. - Calamine Lotion
You may apply calamine lotion around the infected region as a Shingles pain treatment, which will help ease virtually any pain, burning or even itching. - Eat 2 Pears A Day
Pears are full of caffeic acid, that is commonly used as a natural antiviral treatment and can assist being a Shingles pain treatment. You either can eat the pears whole or even juice them or even consume an all natural pear juice for great results. But, be sure you’re eating pears throughout the day! - Lysine
Take in a minimum of two 500 milligram tablets of Lysine several times daily. Lysine is an anti-viral amino acid that can be present in green spinach, lentils, peas, carob as well as soybeans. Lysine may be effective in getting rid of any kind of signs and symptoms and as a fast Shingles pain treatment.Not to mention there is Ibuprofen, Tylenol, or even Aspirin which will help reduce any pain you may be going through. There are also additional prescription medications you are able to take that your doctor can present you with, nevertheless, much research has shown that those medications can be harmful to your body and could not be worth putting yourself at that level of risk. Presently there are many natural, safe and effective treatments for Shingles.
What is the Right Shingles Medication?
Anyone who has had chickenpox may later also have shingles. This disease, however, may need some other kind of treatment that is different from chicken pox medication. Given below are some types of shingles medication.
Consulting with Your Doctor
Although shingles do disappear on their own after a couple of weeks, it is important to immediately seek medical attention once you experience shingles symptoms. Shingle’s medication given by a doctor can help reduce the discomforts that accompany shingles and prevent complications. A doctor too would be able to give you the right combination and dosage of medications in consideration of your age and severity of a condition.
Antiviral Shingles Medication
The first type of shingles medication that most doctors prescribe for shingles patients is antiviral medication. This is because shingles are caused by a virus and an antiviral can help prevent the development or increase of the virus. Antiviral medications also speed up the healing of shingles blisters and help ease the pain. Experts say that antiviral medication should be given within three days of the first signs of shingles for best results. It is also believed that prompt and early medication can help limit the possibility of a patient developing post-herpetic neuralgia or PHN. PHN is a condition in which pain persists for a long time after the shingles rashes have healed.
All patients with shingles may benefit from antiviral shingles medication. Early antiviral treatment, however, may be especially helpful for the elderly and those with severe cases of shingles. In some cases, antiviral medication may result in headaches as a side effect.
Corticosteroids Shingles Medication
Sometimes doctors may also prescribe corticosteroids in addition to antiviral shingles medication. Just like antiviral medicines, corticosteroids also work best when to give early. Some doctors, however, recommend that corticosteroids only be given to patients who are more than 50 years old or those who have shingles on the face and are in extreme pain. This type of shingles medication can reduce pain, decrease itchiness and limit swelling.
The problem with the use of corticosteroids as shingles medication is that it might result in some side effects a headache, stomach upset, moodiness, thirstiness, insomnia and increase in weight. Corticosteroids have also been known to make shingles rashes appear worse. The worst possible side effects of using this medication for a long time include meningitis, osteoporosis, and cataract.
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