Your Questions About Shingles

admin answers:

The patient needs to go to a MD and get on anti viral drugs immediately. Otherwise the pain will persist and could become worse. Acupuncture is not a treatment for shingles.

admin answers:

Shingles is a viral infection caused by reactivation of the virus which causes chicken pox.
The treatment of choice is acyclovir (a prescription medicine) for atleast 7 days. You need to meet your doctor/ dermatologist for that. Besides that the doc would also give you some analgesics like tylenol and may be an antibacterial/ antiviral cream to apply.
If you dont take the anti viral medicine the chances of post herpetic neuralgia (pain persisting after the lesions have disappeared) increases.
Remember you are infectious to people who have not got chicken pox….. So please meet your doctor at the earliest.

admin answers:

Currently, there is no cure available for Herpes zoster, nor a treatment to effectively eliminate the virus from the body. However, there are some treatments that can mitigate the length of the disease and alleviate certain side effects.
Acyclovir (an antiviral drug) inhibits replication of the viral DNA, and is used both as prophylaxis (e.g., in patients with AIDS) and as therapy for herpes zoster. Other antivirals are valacyclovir and famciclovir. During the acute phase, oral acyclovir should be given. Use of acylovir is most effective in moderating the progress of the symptoms, and in preventing post-herpetic neuralgia, if started within 24 to 72 hours of the onset of symptoms, so medical care should be obtained as soon as the condition is recognized. Immunocompromised patients may respond best to intravenous acyclovir. In patients who are at high risk for recurrences, an oral dose of acyclovir, taken twice daily, is usually effective. It is also reported that the amino acid lysine inhibits the replication of herpes zoster.
Cimetidine, a common component of over-the-counter heartburn medication, has been shown to lessen the severity of herpes zoster outbreaks in several different instances. This usage is considered an off-label use of the drug. In addition, cimetidine and probenecid have been shown to reduce the renal clearance of aciclovir.. The study showed these compounds reduce the rate, but not the extent, at which valaciclovir is converted into aciclovir. Renal clearance of aciclovir was reduced by approximately 24% and 33% respectively. In addition, respective increases in the peak plasma concentration of acyclovir of 8% and 22% were observed. The authors concluded that these effects were “not expected to have clinical consequences regarding the safety of valaciclovir”. Due to the tendency of aciclovir to precipitate in renal tubules, combining these drugs should only occur under the supervision of a physician.

admin answers:

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yes, acyclovir, valacyclovir, or famciclovir are all appropriate and effective treatments.

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yes – topical benedryl will offer MINIMAL symptomatic improvement
oral benadryl may also help a bit.
Your doctor can certainly prescribe pain medication – but avoid getting hooked on prescription pain remedies. I have had shingles myself, and I know how bothersome the pain is, but I took nothing for it – – it is certainly not something that warrants getting hooked on narcotics.

Note that topical lidocaine patches are NOT approved to be used on broken skin — but they are very good AFTER the skin has healed, when the pain persists.

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