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You Don't Want Shingles
By Deb Bloom of Gimme One of Each
Shingles, or herpes zoster, is a viral infection of the nerve roots. It causes pain, often severe, and causes a rash on one side of the body, the left or right. It never crosses over the center of the body using the spine as the center. The rash or lesions appear in a group, a strip, or a small area. Shingles is most common in older adults and people who have weak immune systems because of stress, injury, certain medicines, or other reasons. Most people who get shingles will get better and will not get it again. But sometimes it has been known to last for several months or even years, lingering on and flaring up intermittently. Symptoms of Shingles usually begins with a burning sensation, mild itching or tingling or a shooting pain in a specific area of skin. It can occur on the chest, back, abdomen or face or on a portion of an arm or leg. The skin may be extremely sensitive, so that you may not be able to stand clothing touching or rubbing the area. What to expect when you get shingles varies in different people. After about five days, the skin becomes red, slightly swollen, and you will develop a rash. Blisters may cluster in patches or form a continuous line that roughly follows the path of the infected nerve. The blisters may be painful or itchy, and may be as large as the palm of your hand. Blisters can continue to appear over the next few days, up to seven days and eventually break, form crusts and then heal. You can also experience fatigue, a low-grade fever and mild muscle aches.Within 4 weeks, the appearance of your skin most likely will return to normal but you could have darker areas of skin where the Shingles were. The duration of pain is variable. Most people's pain decreases within 2 or 3 months. Some people have pain for many months and some continue to have pain longer than a year. If you haven't developed the lesions on your body, Shingles can be difficult to diagnose. Once a rash and blisters appear, the doctor probably can diagnose shingles based on your symptoms and the appearance of your skin. Your risk for getting shingles increases if you have had chickenpox. If you have never had chickenpox, avoid contact with people who have shingles or chickenpox. Fluid from shingles blisters is contagious, and exposure to it can cause chickenpox (but not shingles) in people who have never had chickenpox. If you develop shingles, avoid close contact with people until after the rash blisters heal. One study reports that the virus that causes shingles may be released into the air from shingles sores. If you have active shingles, you may be able to prevent spreading the disease by covering the shingles. Treatment for Shingles is effective if diagnosed within 72 hours. Your doctor may prescribe antiviral medication such as acyclovir (Zovirax), famciclovir (Famvir) and valacyclovir (Valtrex). Sometimes antiviral medication is combined with prednisone, an anti-inflammatory drug. There is a vaccine for Shingles called Zostavax which is recommended for people 60 and over to help prevent shingles. The vaccine is given once. The ingredients in the vaccine are the same as the chickenpox vaccine for children, but the dose is 14 times stronger. |
    
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This is excellant information about a tough subject. My doctor suggested that I get the shot to prevent shingles and I refused. I'll be calling him back and scheduling to get the vaccine,NOW.
THank you, great intel.
Frederick
My father had shingles and he had a lot of pain from it. I caught chickenpox in my 30s but only a mild dose. I certainly hope I don't get shingles.
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This intel was contributed by Morganna
Morganna
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May, 2012
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