Treatments For Nerve Pain From Shingles

There s no cure for shingles but prompt treatment with prescription antiviral drugs can speed healing and reduce your risk of complications.

Treatments for nerve pain from shingles.

Shingles itself comes from reactivation of a chickenpox virus varicella zoster. Acyclovir zovirax valacyclovir valtrex shingles can cause severe pain so your doctor also may prescribe. Roughly 30 to 60 of people over age 60 who get shingles go on to develop a chronic pain syndrome called post herpetic neuralgia. Sometimes the pain of shingles continues long after the blisters and other symptoms have faded away.

The risk of postherpetic neuralgia increases with age primarily affecting people older than 60. Learn about treatment options from a pain management specialist. For some people shingles pain continues long after the blisters have cleared. It s called postherpetic neuralgia.

While antiviral medication is an effective treatment for shingles it s not the only option. Treating nerve pain alternative treatments you can t make an outbreak of shingles go away any faster but you can do a lot of things on your own to make yourself more comfortable. While a painful itchy blistering rash is the main characteristic of shingles this nerve pain may precede its appearance. If you have shingles symptoms get treatment now and you may avoid permanent nerve pain.

Quite frequently the earliest symptom of shingles is a burning or tingling sensation on the skin. When the rash goes away the pain usually goes. Capsaicin topical patch qutenza. Doctors can help you manage the pain.

Shingles a viral infection of the nerve roots affects 1 million people in the u s each year. The virus travels down nerve fibers to cause a painful skin rash. Generally this pain follows a nerve s path on one side of the body. This condition is known as postherpetic neuralgia and it occurs when damaged nerve fibers send confused and exaggerated messages of pain from your skin to your brain.

Shingles causes a painful rash that can be accompanied by fever fatigue and sensitivity to light.