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Shingles Cure
Shingles is a painful and often debilitating disease that is caused by the varicella-zoster virus, which also causes chickenpox. It most often occurs in people over the age of 60, but can show up in anyone who has had the chickenpox virus. The varicella-zoster virus from the initial bout of chickenpox will remain in nerve cells and then become reactivated at a later time, usually due to a weakening of the immune system.
Symptoms
The first symptom of shingles is usually a pain under the skin. A rash of blisters will then appear several days later. The virus usually follows a pattern along a nerve, and most commonly appears as a girdle or belt on the torso, hence the name shingles, derived from the Latin word cingulum, meaning “girdle.” It may also occasionally develop on the face, and around the eyes and nose. The blisters are usually fluid-filled, and will break open, scab over and gradually start to heal over the course of several weeks.Shingles is called “St. Anthony’s Fire” in Italy, due to the fact that a common symptom of shingles includes a severe burning sensation that is difficult to relieve.
What causes shingles to appear?
Scientists are still unsure what is responsible for triggering the varicella-zoster virus to break out. However, a weakened immune system seems to be a common link among most shingles sufferers. There are many factors that can weaken the immune system, including advanced age, chronic illness such as cancer, leukemia, HIV or AIDS, or prolonged use of antibiotics for a different infection. Surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy may also be contributing factors.Contagion Factor
For anyone who has had chickenpox, shingles doesn’t pose a threat. Since shingles develops from dormant remnants of the chickenpox virus, it’s impossible for a person to contract shingles from someone else. If a person has never had chickenpox, however, it is possible that they could catch it from being exposed to a shingles patient with open blisters.Treating the Outbreak
Although there is not yet a prescribed cure for shingles, there are some ways to ease the pain and discomfort associated with shingles. Antiviral medications may be prescribed to help keep the infection from spreading, along with pain relievers and ointment for the rash.Persistent Pain
In most cases, shingles will go away on its own after several weeks. However, some people may suffer from the pain of shingles for a long time, developing a condition called PHN, or post-herpetic neuralgia. The pain during the rash outbreak of shingles is usually different from that suffered with PHN. While the initial pain can often be severe, it is more easily treated than the pain associated with PHN, and usually doesn’t last very long.PHN is more common in older people, although the cause for this is unknown. The skin may become incredibly sensitive and it may be too painful even for clothes, bed sheets, or even a gust of wind to brush against the affected skin. Currently, there is no cure for PHN, but many tests are being conducted to determine what causes this persistent pain, and how it can be eliminated.
Pain Treatment
For those who suffer from severe pain either during or after a shingles outbreak, there are a limited number of options to relieve it. In addition to oral medications for the pain, doctors may prescribe things such as a Lidoderm pain patch, which contains pain-relieving Lidocaine medication, TENS (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation), which sends electrical pulses to the skin’s surface that help to relieve pain, and nerve blockers, which consist of local anesthetic being injected into the affected area.Each of these methods has had varying results among shingles and PHN sufferers. Every patient responds differently to different treatments, and what works for one person may not help at all for another person.
Is a Cure on the Way?
A chickenpox vaccine was approved by the FDA in 1995, and has begun to be administered to the younger generation. It is estimated that in the past, approximately 95 percent of children in the U.S. developed a case of chickenpox before they turned 18. Today, an estimated 60 percent of U.S. children have received the chickenpox vaccination.This is only a preventative measure against the virus, however, and not a cure. And although this vaccine provides protection against chickenpox, it does little to help prevent or cure shingles. There is hope among researchers that the chickenpox virus will gradually weaken and die out, and that shingles will follow suit. But it would take many more years for that cycle to run its course. Until then, alternative treatments such as Shingles No More by Forces of Nature may be the best cure.
Shingles
