Perhaps the first time you saw the blistering associated with shingles, you thought you got bit by a spider or had some sort of contact dermatitis. Pain is the defining characteristic of shingles symptoms, versus any other type of rash. Usually, you'll begin having headaches for a week or feeling a phantom pain around your abdomen or face. Often this pain is mistaken for kidney, stomach or heart problems at first. Once you see the telltale rash appear in a thick band around one side of your face, chest or abdomen, call the doctor right away to curb the virus before it gets out of hand. Do not delay getting shingles treatment.
When a diagnosis has been made, you will commence your treatment by means of antiviral medications that go after the root cause of your problem. Doctors say that it is best to start your course of treatment within two days of observing the shingles rash to lessen your risk of developing issues like post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN), which is long term pain that persists for weeks, months or even years after the sores clear up. If a swift attack is not made on the virus, then it may very well cause damage to nerve endings, which is usually very hard to deal with. In fact, it's believed that 40-50% of sufferers will not benefit from treatment for PHN in any way.
Over-the-counter pain medications like acetaminophen, aspirin or ibuprofen have all been used in shingles treatment to reduce pain. Topical antibiotics like benzoin, applied directly to the blisters, can stop the infection and relieve some of the burning or itching. People under the age of 50 may also be prescribed corticosteroids to reduce their pain. Even though there are over-the-counter pain management options for shingles, it's important to visit your primary physician to receive antiviral medication as well. If financing is an issue, ask your doctor about getting the generic equivalent for Valtrex, which is available as of this year.
A third of the people undergoing shingles treatment will develop postherpetic neuralgia (PHN). Patients who develop this condition don't typically respond to conventional pain management treatments for shingles. They usually need harder drugs from the opioid family, including codeine, oxycodone or morphine patches. Topical anesthetics like lidocaine patches or topical creams containing capsaicin (the substance that makes chili spicy) can also provide pain relief. Tricyclic antidepressants and anticonvulsant medications have also been used to treat the serious excruciating pain of lingering shingles after-effects.
When investigating anti-HIV drugs, Chris McGuigan, a professor of medicinal chemistry, lately discovered a new group of compounds that can attack the shingles virus directly. "We've always needed a cure for shingles and after we made our discovery we were in the fortunate position of being able to not simply observe it, but crucially exploit it," McGuigan said. In spite of funding setbacks owing to the fact that shingles isn't a deadly disease, McGuigan's drug for the treatment of shingles, named Inhibitex, which is 10,000 times more potent than the present drug treatments being prescribed, has at last made it to clinical trials. "My inbox is overflowing with messages from shingles sufferers saying life just isn't tolerable, their pain is so bad," he adds, noting the critical nature of developing a better treatment for this excruciating rash.
When a diagnosis has been made, you will commence your treatment by means of antiviral medications that go after the root cause of your problem. Doctors say that it is best to start your course of treatment within two days of observing the shingles rash to lessen your risk of developing issues like post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN), which is long term pain that persists for weeks, months or even years after the sores clear up. If a swift attack is not made on the virus, then it may very well cause damage to nerve endings, which is usually very hard to deal with. In fact, it's believed that 40-50% of sufferers will not benefit from treatment for PHN in any way.
Over-the-counter pain medications like acetaminophen, aspirin or ibuprofen have all been used in shingles treatment to reduce pain. Topical antibiotics like benzoin, applied directly to the blisters, can stop the infection and relieve some of the burning or itching. People under the age of 50 may also be prescribed corticosteroids to reduce their pain. Even though there are over-the-counter pain management options for shingles, it's important to visit your primary physician to receive antiviral medication as well. If financing is an issue, ask your doctor about getting the generic equivalent for Valtrex, which is available as of this year.
A third of the people undergoing shingles treatment will develop postherpetic neuralgia (PHN). Patients who develop this condition don't typically respond to conventional pain management treatments for shingles. They usually need harder drugs from the opioid family, including codeine, oxycodone or morphine patches. Topical anesthetics like lidocaine patches or topical creams containing capsaicin (the substance that makes chili spicy) can also provide pain relief. Tricyclic antidepressants and anticonvulsant medications have also been used to treat the serious excruciating pain of lingering shingles after-effects.
When investigating anti-HIV drugs, Chris McGuigan, a professor of medicinal chemistry, lately discovered a new group of compounds that can attack the shingles virus directly. "We've always needed a cure for shingles and after we made our discovery we were in the fortunate position of being able to not simply observe it, but crucially exploit it," McGuigan said. In spite of funding setbacks owing to the fact that shingles isn't a deadly disease, McGuigan's drug for the treatment of shingles, named Inhibitex, which is 10,000 times more potent than the present drug treatments being prescribed, has at last made it to clinical trials. "My inbox is overflowing with messages from shingles sufferers saying life just isn't tolerable, their pain is so bad," he adds, noting the critical nature of developing a better treatment for this excruciating rash.
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