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Herpes Zoster - Symptoms & Treatment
The other name of Herpes Zoster is Shinglesgets its name from both Latin and French words for belt, or girdle, and refers to girdle-like skin eruptions on the trunk. Shingles is not a new infection, it is rather, a second outbreak of the chicken pox virus. Shingles is primarily a disease of the elderly, but it can occasionally affect young individuals alsoHerpes Zoster commonly known as shingles, is caused by the same virus responsible for chicken pox. Herpes zoster is an localized infection with varicella-zoster virus, which causes a painful, blistering rash. Shingles results from reactivation of the chicken-pox virus that remained in your body since you had chicken pox--perhaps many years. Herpes Zoster begins as a rash that lead to blisters and sores on the skin.
Symptoms of Herpes Zoster
The Symptoms of Herpes Zoster are below
- Warning symptoms of unilateral (on one side) pain, tingling, or burning sensation limited to a specific part of the body -- pain and burning sensation may be intense.
- Reddening of the skin (erythema) followed by the appearance of blisters (vesicles)
- Many patients mistakenly believe that "nervousness" causes shingles. this is wrong; shingles is a viral infection of a nerve and has nothing to do with being "nervous.
- Grouped, dense, deep, small blisters that ooze and crust
Additional symptoms that may be associated with this disease:
- Fever, chills
- General feeling of malaise
- Headache
- Lymph node swelling
- Vision abnormalities
- Taste abnormalities
- Drooping eyelid ( ptosis )
- Loss of eye motion (ophthalmoplegia)
- Hearing loss
- Joint pain
- Genital lesions (female or male)
- Abdominal pain
Causes of Herpes Zoster
The causes of Herpes Zoster are consists the following ter
- Herpes zoster (shingles) is caused by the chicken-pox virus.
- he cause of the re-activation is usually unknown, but seems to be linked to aging, stress, or an impaired immune system. Often only one attack occurs, without recurrence.
- After infection with chickenpox, the virus resides in a non-active state in the nerve tracts that emerge from the spine. When it is re-activated, it spreads along the nerve tract, first causing pain or a burning sensation.
- Usually the cause is a decrease in your body's natural resistance, which may come through other infections, stress, being generally run
- Eye problems caused by severe or chronic outbreaks of herpes zoster may include: glaucoma , , double vision, and scarring of the cornea and eyes
- Involvement of the facial nerve may cause Ramsay Hunt syndrome with facial paralysis, hearing loss, loss of taste in half of the tongue and skin lesions around the ear and ear canal. Shingles may, on occasion, involve the genitals or upper leg. . .
- Trigeminal nerve involvement may include lesions in the mouth or eye. Eye lesions may lead to permanent blindness if not treated with emergency medical care.
Treatment of Herpes Zoster
The treatment of herpes zoster are below topic
- Acyclovir helps to control the skin eruption. It is not a cure, but helps to heal the rash, provided treatment is started early. Acyclovir is taken by mouth.
- Many patients have experienced success with natural treatments such as Shingles No More and other shingles solutions.
- Even taking acyclovir may not eliminate discomfort, burning sensations, or pain. If the discomfort is mild, take Tylenol or a similar mild painkiller.
- If you have too much pain, we can order a prescription painkiller to take until the pain subsides. The pain is caused by inflammation of a nerve. Cortisone taken by mouth is sometimes used in treating the nerve inflammation.
- The blistering rash usually clears in a few weeks. The discomfort may persist longer.
- Treat your rash gently. Don't open your blisters. As long as there is blistering or crusting, compresses with dilute vinegar will make you more comfortable. Compress the blisters or crusts for 10 minutes twice daily with a mixture of one-quarter cup of white vinegar and two quarts of lukewarm water. Stop the compresses when the blisters have dried up.
- Later, when the crusts and scabs are separating, your skin may become dry, tense, and cracked. If that happens, rub on a small amount of white petrolatum (plain Vaseline) three or four times a day.
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