What exactly causes the virus to become active is not known. Later, if the virus becomes active again, shingles is the name given to the symptoms it causes. It moves to the roots of your nerve cells and becomes inactive. After you recover from chickenpox, the chickenpox virus stays in your body. If you have had chickenpox, you are at risk for later developing shingles. Recommended Reading: How Do You Treat Shingles On The Face How Does It Occur Once your blisters have dried and scabbed over, you are no longer contagious and will not need to avoid anyone. babies less than one month old, unless it is your own baby, in which case your baby should have antibodies to protect them from the virus. people who have a weak immune system, such as someone with HIV or AIDS.women who are pregnant and have not had chickenpox before as they could catch it from you, which may harm their unborn baby.You should also avoid work or school if your rash is weeping and cannot be covered.Ĭhickenpox can be particularly dangerous for certain groups of people. This will help prevent the virus being passed on to someone who has not had chickenpox. If you have the shingles rash, do not share towels or flannels, go swimming, or play contact sports. The job of itch and pain is to protect us from harmful stimuli, she says. Neurologist Anne Louise Oaklander, MD, director of the Nerve Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, notes that while itch and pain are distinct sensations, they are closely related and are the two major nocifensive sensations. Patients often report the sensation of insects on their skin when there arenât any. PHI is believed to be the result of isolated remaining nerve fibers firing when they shouldnât, giving false sensations that fool the central nervous system. PHI and PHN, which can occur together, are more prevalent and longer-lasting in the elderly because they are less able to regenerate the neurons damaged by shingles. PHI is most common after shingles affecting the head or neck. In older or more severely affected patients with the most severe nerve damage, mild or severe pain and itching can last for months or years. Many cases of shingles are preceded or accompanied by itch or pain. PHI gets less attention than PHN, but it is just as disabling, and is a challenge to treat. The neuropathic itch condition is caused when the herpes zoster virus kills or damages the neurons that mediate normal itch and pain sensations. Postherpetic itch, like postherpetic neuralgia, occurs in shingles patients who have persistent nerve damage after the rash subsides. Understanding And Treating Postherpetic ItchĪn itchy post-shingles complication can be challenging to control. The same study reported an increased risk for heart attacks in the three months after shingles, but the additional risk dissipated after six months. A PLOS Medicine study that tracked about 67,000 people ages 65 and older who were newly diagnosed with shingles found that stroke risk more than doubled in the first week after the shingles diagnosis. When the nerve to the ear is affected, it can permanently damage hearing or balance. Pain and rash near an eye can cause permanent eye damage and requires an urgent ophthalmological exam. Many people are left with an itchy area from their shingles, which can be as disabling as chronic pain. This often-disabling pain can last several months to a year. Pain that lingers in the area of a healed shingles rash is called postherpetic neuralgia. Rapid treatment with one of three antiviral drugs, acyclovir, valacyclovir, or famciclovir, can shorten a shingles attack and reduce the risk of serious damage, such as: But in fact a shingles rash should alert people, especially in middle or old age, to seek immediate medical help, says Dr. Many people have the mistaken impression that, like poison ivy, shingles is a nuisance rash that fades on its own.
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