While antiviral medication is an effective treatment for shingles it s not the only option.
What can i do for shingles pain.
Find out what the recovery stages of shingles are and how you can help minimize the symptoms.
Your doctor may also take a tissue scraping or culture of the blisters for examination in the laboratory.
If you have shingles symptoms get treatment now and you may avoid permanent nerve pain.
Rice md of imperial college london.
Any part of your body can be affected including your face and eyes although the chest and abdomen tummy are the most common areas where shingles develops.
For some it can be intense.
Pain is usually the first symptom of shingles.
Shingles also known as herpes zoster results from a reactivation of infection with the varicella zoster virus that causes chickenpox anyone who has had chickenpox may develop shingles later in life although it is most common in older people.
The pain of shingles is for many people quite striking in its severity.
Shingles recovery tends to follow a pattern and may take anywhere from 2 to 6 weeks or more.
The main symptoms are pain followed by a rash.
Roughly 30 to 60 of people over age 60 who get shingles go on to develop a chronic pain syndrome called post herpetic neuralgia.
Pneumonia and brain inflammation are possible.
An episode of shingles typically lasts around two to four weeks.
Shingles can appear many years after the initial chickenpox infection.
Shingles causes a painful rash that can be accompanied by fever fatigue and sensitivity to light.
If your shingles pain lasts eight to 12 weeks after the rash goes away you re part of an unfortunate minority says pain researcher andrew s c.
Shingles can affect the brain spinal cord and blood vessels but it s rare.
Complications send about 1 to 4 percent of people with shingles to.
Some people experience shingles pain without ever developing the rash.
Learn about treatment options from a pain management specialist.
Some people develop complications after shingles including nerve pain called post herpetic neuropathy.