 |
Facts about Shingles
What is Shingles?
Shingles (herpes zoster) is an outbreak of rash or blisters on
the skin that is caused by the same virus that causes chickenpox
— the varicella-zoster virus. The first sign of shingles is
often burning or tingling pain, or sometimes numbness or itch,
in one particular location on only one side of the body. After
several days or a week, a rash of fluid-filled blisters, similar
to chickenpox, appears in one area on one side of the body.
Shingles pain can be mild or intense. Some people have mostly
itching; some feel pain from the gentlest touch or breeze. The
most common location for shingles is a band, called a dermatome,
spanning one side of the trunk around the waistline. Anyone who
has had chickenpox is at risk for shingles. Scientists think
that in the original battle with the varicella-zoster virus,
some of the virus particles leave the skin blisters and move
into the nervous system. When the varicella-zoster virus
reactivates, the virus moves back down the long nerve fibers
that extend from the sensory cell bodies to the skin. The
viruses multiply, the tell-tale rash erupts, and the person now
has shingles.
Symptoms
You may feel slightly unwell, and develop a localized area of
pain and tenderness a few days or sometimes up to two weeks
before the rash appears. The rash starts off as red spots, which
quickly turn into blisters. They always affect only one side of
the body (left or right) and never cross the midline. This is
because they come out on the area of skin which is supplied by
one particular nerve.
The rash may affect any part of the body, including head and
limbs. It may thus appear as a band around one side of the chest
or abdomen, or down an arm or leg. It may affect the head, and
when it affects the upper cheek or the side of the forehead it
may also affect the eye. You should certainly see your doctor if
you have shingles affecting the side of the head, and especially
if it seems to affect the tip of your nose or the eye itself.
It is usually a very painful rash, and typically people can't
bear clothes touching the affected area. The blisters burst and
crust over, usually within a week and the area slowly settles,
sometimes leaving pale scars. The pain may settle as quickly as
the rash, but unfortunately some people are left with pain
affecting that area for many months or even years (Post herpetic
neuralgia).
Most people are surprised by how ill they feel with shingles.
This seems out of proportion with the extent of the skin
involved. There is a general debility and exhaustion, sometimes
with aches and pains and sometimes a mild fever. Depression is
often a feature of shingles, as in many other viruses. You may
need up to three weeks off work.
back
to top
Causes
You can only get shingles (Herpes Zoster) if you have previously
had chickenpox. After having chickenpox the virus lies dormant
in the nerves, and shingles occurs when it is revitalized in one
particular nerve to the skin, thus explaining the way it affects
a clearly demarcated band of skin only. Usually the cause is a
decrease in your body's natural resistance, which may come
through other infections, stress, being generally run down, or
occasionally, when the body's immune defenses are affected by
certain drugs or other immune deficiencies.
Diagnosis
The pattern of the rash, in the form of blisters usually
clinches the diagnosis, but a sample of the fluid from the
blisters, or of blood can confirm it. It is unlikely that your
doctor will need to do any tests.
What is the prognosis?
For most healthy people, the lesions heal, the pain subsides
within 3 to 5 weeks, and the blisters leave no scars. However,
shingles is a serious threat in immuno-suppressed individuals —
for example, those with HIV infection or who are receiving
cancer treatments that can weaken their immune systems. People
who receive organ transplants are also vulnerable to shingles
because they are given drugs that suppress the immune system.
A person with a shingles rash can pass the virus to someone,
usually a child, who has never had chickenpox, but the child
will develop chickenpox, not shingles. A person with chickenpox
cannot communicate shingles to someone else. Shingles comes from
the virus hiding inside the person's body, not from an outside
source.
Treatment:
Customers report that Terrasil starts
providing relief in a matter of hours and stops the pain and
other shingles symptoms within a few days. The power in Terrasil
is its unique Activated Minerals. No other shingles
medicine has this breakthrough compound. Seven patents have
been awarded.
 back
to top
|
|
