Know more about shingles

Shingles is a health condition that is caused by the same virus that causes chickenpox. When an individual is infected by chickenpox, the virus never leaves the body and resurfaces from time to time. It is caused by the herpes varicella zoster virus.

Symptoms

The first symptoms of shingles are burning, tingling and development of rashes on your body. These symptoms might be accompanied with headache, fever, enlarged nymph nodes and pain in affected areas. After a few days, the rashes turn in to fluid filled blisters that eventually collapse and form small ulcers. These ulcers will dry out and form crusts. Sometimes, even after the disappearance of rashes, pain persists in the affected area. This is more likely to occur amongst old patients. Irrespective of the affected area, it is known to affect the sexual health of a person greatly.

Causes and risk factors

As mentioned above, shingles is the reactivation of herpes virus. This virus remains dormant in the nervous system even after the person has recovered from chickenpox. For certain reasons, the virus travels back to one of the nerves of the skin and causes a rash. The reason for such reactivation is not known clearly but it is generally linked with the immune system. It is believed that emotional shocks lead to weakening of the immune system and development of shingles. Around 25% of people develop shingles in their lifetime. Men and women are affected equally, while old people are more prone to this health condition. Young people can get affected by shingles too, if their immune systems are weak.

The blisters that form on your skin during an outbreak of shingles are full of virus, and this makes it very contagious. You can catch chickenpox from someone who is affected with shingles, if you have never had the infection before. But it is not possible to catch shingles from an individual who is suffering or has suffered from shingles or chickenpox.

More than 95% of the adults have been exposed to chickenpox, a majority during their childhood, and this makes them immune to the same. However, a small fraction of adults are not immune and this increases the risk.

Treatment and recovery

The shingle virus cannot be cured, but it can be treated via antiviral medication. You can take painkillers to relieve the pain and calamine lotion is used to reduce itching. Effective medications such as Acyclovir are used by many people as this medication reduces the duration of symptoms and risk of post -herpetic neuralgia. You should start taking Acyclovir as soon as you see the first symptoms of shingles. If shingles has affected your eyes, you need to see an ophthalmologist.

If an individual's immune system is weak, and he/she is exposed to shingles, then the best treatment is intravenous antiviral therapy as the risk of complications is really high. An injection of immunoglobulin or antiviral antibodies might be offered to them for fast and effective treatment. In any case, consult a doctor before deciding on any treatment.