HERPES ZOSTER
Herpes zoster or shingles is due to a reactivation of latent chickenpox which may erupt spontaneously during one’s later years. It can be due to some underlying illness; in most cases no underlying illness is found. The infection causes discomfort or pain and consists of blisters which occur on a limited area on one side of the body or the other, and sometimes over the face and eye, where they can be extremely painful.
Most of the time the discomfort of the infection can be controlled with analgesics and locally applied warm compresses. Some physicians choose to give short courses of high-dose cortisone or other more experimental drugs, which may increase the rate of healing and may decrease the likelihood of a painful disorder called postherpetic neuralgia that may follow an attack of herpes zoster. An antiviral drug, acyclovir, has been effective in hastening recovery from serious attacks of herpes zoster infection. Treatment may require short-term hospitalization.
For those with painful postherpetic neuralgia, life may be very uncomfortable as each pain reliever in turn is tried in the quest for the one that works. In time there is often improvement, although some people continue to suffer for years from pain in the area of a previous herpes zoster infection.
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