Shingles Disease Symptoms Are Painful
Shingles disease symptoms leave their victims in a great deal of pain. Pain shoots down the nerves at an alarming speed, leaving a wake of itching, pain and numbness behind. Soon the telltale scabs appear, oozing and crusting over before healing. Sometimes even after these repulsive marks disappear, the pain persists with a condition called post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN). "Shingles patients suffer from a lot of pain, sometimes even needing narcotic pain relievers," explains Joseph Jorizzo, MD, professor of dermatology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.
The first shingles disease symptoms that most people become aware of is a burning sensation on the nerve paths where the virus is traveling. Since the nerve paths run in half-circles around the body, the burning, itching, tingling shingles pain occurs on one side of the face, chest or abdomen only. Within the first 24 hours, patients will notice a fever and enlarged lymph nodes. Within 48-72 hours, the skin rash appears like small blisters on top of swollen, red skin. Unlike chickenpox, which spreads all over the body from finger tips to toes, shingles are confined to smaller areas on the face, abdomen and chest. After three to five days, the rash has reached its peak and is now beginning to burst, turn into sores and slowly scab over. After two to three weeks, the scabs fall off, leaving the skin to heal. For many people, the rash region is extremely painful for weeks or months after the scabs have gone. Something as simple as having a shirt touch the skin can send waves of nerve pain radiating around the body.
The most common shingles pain complication is called postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), which describes the chronic pain persistent long after the skin lesions have healed. "The incidence of postherpetic neuralgia rises dramatically in people over 50," says Joseph Jorizzo MD of Wake Forest University, who adds that more than 50% of people 50+ develop PHN. "It's probably due to some sort of scar produced by the inflammation caused by all the viral particles coming down the sensory nerve." He says the incidence and duration of PHN can be significantly decreased with the use of oral antiviral agents like acyclovir in high doses. Studies show that it's important to begin antiviral therapy within 48-72 hours of the onset of symptoms.
Many patients wonder, "Are shingles contagious?" They also wonder if they will experience these painful shingles disease symptoms more than once in their lifetime. Doctors can say with certainty that a person cannot catch shingles from someone who has shingles, but if they've never had the chickenpox before, they can catch that form of the herpes virus. So far it seems, almost without exception, that people will either never get shingles or will only have it once. Recurrent and persistent blistering is usually the herpes simplex form, not the varicella zoster virus.
Related topics about Shingles Disease Symptoms
Shingles Disease: The Facts
The shingles disease is caused by the varicella-zoster virus, which is part of the herpes viruses that cause chickenpox. Anyone who has had chickenpox can develop shingles, as it often lies dormant in the nervous system for years. Doctors are still researching to figure out what triggers the dormant virus in some people, but they speculate that it may be due to a lowered immunity to infections as the body weakens with age.
Treatment For Shingles Pain
Treatment for shingles pain ranges greatly, depending on the doctor and the patient's response, says Dr. Anne Louise Oaklander MD, PhD of Massachusetts. "Some people may find that over the counter anti-inflammatory and pain relief is adequate, such as acetaminophen, aspirin, or ibuprofen," she explains, "but substantial numbers of people will need prescribed pain medications by their physician.
Treating Shingles to Relieve Pain and Itchiness
Once a diagnosis has been made, you will begin your shingles medication treatment with antiviral medicine that targets the root cause of your symptoms. Doctors say you should begin your treatment within two days of noticing the shingles rash to decrease your risk of developing complications like post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN), which is the chronic pain that persists for weeks, months or even years after the lesions heal. If the virus is not directly attacked, then it may actually damage nerve endings, which can be very difficult to treat.