What is shingles, shingles is a serious infectious disease that can become serious and cause other conditions if not prevented. It can leave permanent damage and can also be contagious. Shingles, which starts with regional pain in the body and then turns into painful rashes, is a disease that can be prevented in a short time if a doctor is consulted and early treatment is applied.
What is shingles, this virus, which causes swelling, severe pain and rashes on the skin, continues to exist as a factor in the body.
What is shingles, shingles, or "Herpes Zoster" as it is called in medicine, is an infectious disease that can be contagious depending on the conditions, popularly known as "night burn" disease. It is caused by the virus that causes chickenpox called "Varicella Zoster". What is shingles, shingles is seen in people who have had chickenpox before and can occur in anyone who has had chickenpox.
If the immune system decreases over the years due to aging, it can be reactivated as shingles. Shingles, which has the potential to occur at any age, is more common in people aged 50 and over.
What are the symptoms of shingles, how is shingles diagnosed?
What is shingles, the first symptom of shingles is localized pain. Pain occurs first in places where there will be a rash. Then redness and water-filled blisters appear on the skin. It causes intense itching, tingling and burning sensation, especially in the trunk part of the body. Sometimes these symptoms can be very severe. Over time, if these rashes do not turn into severe sores, they can dry up and disappear without leaving a scar. Chickenpox consists of rashes that spread to many parts of the body. In shingles, the rash is limited to the back, buttocks, abdomen, neck and face. As the disease progresses, there may be other symptoms such as headache, fever, malaise, weakness, chills, light sensitivity, muscle weakness, nausea and abdominal pain.
What is the treatment for shingles?
Shingles is an important disease that should be diagnosed early and treated as soon as possible. Intervention should be done with the onset of the rash. The earlier treatment is started, the more likely it is to prevent complications. The lesions (rashes) are often intensely painful. They are more severe and persistent in older people than in younger people. The immune system plays an important role in the onset and progression of the disease. If the sufferer has a strong immune system, the lesions may regress within 2-4 weeks. Pain may also regress in parallel with the rashes. During the treatment process, the medications recommended by the specialist should be used regularly. In this process, anesthetic creams for rashes, anti-itch ointments, painkillers are used with the prescription given by the doctor. Drinking plenty of fluids and eating a healthy diet can help speed up the healing process. Extra attention should be paid to hygiene in this process. Stress is a factor in the formation of shingles. Therefore, the individual should lead a healthy and balanced life away from stress. Rest should be taken during the illness and unhygienic places should be avoided. It is also recommended that the patient stays at home during treatment to prevent shingles from being contagious due to the risk of infection.
How can shingles be prevented?
The chickenpox vaccine is a childhood vaccine to prevent chickenpox. There is also a vaccine for shingles. A single dose of this vaccine prevents shingles to a large extent. The vaccine can be administered on the advice of a specialist. These vaccines do not guarantee that a person will not get chickenpox or shingles. But they play an important role in preventing complications.
What are the complications of shingles?
Postherpetic Neuralgia (PHN): This is a very common and severe complication. It causes intense pain in the rash area. It is called postherpetic neuralgia if the pain starts before the lesions occur and there is still pain in the area after the lesions disappear. It is common in people aged 40 years and older.
Ramsay Hunt syndrome: It is one of the acute facial neuropathic syndromes causing facial paralysis and lesions in the external ear.
Trigeminal neuralgia: A neural disorder that causes intense pain in one part of the face. It is a disease of the trigeminal nerve that controls the sensory nerve in the face.
Peripheral motor neuropathy: It occurs when the motor nerves that control muscle movements are damaged. It causes weakness, tingling and numbness in the hands and feet.
Ophthalmic shingles: Causes pain and infection in or around the eye. It can cause loss of vision.
Complications of shingles are more common in immunocompromised people.
Is shingles contagious?
Shingles is a disease seen in people who have had chickenpox before. Therefore, a person who has never had chickenpox cannot get shingles. People who have had chickenpox will get chickenpox if they come into contact with a shingles patient. You can only get shingles when the rash is active. Once the rashes dry up and crust over, they are no longer contagious. It can be transmitted by direct contact with the fluid that forms in the rash. Airborne transmission such as sneezing and coughing is not possible.
Does shingles damage internal organs?
The pain lasts longer in the elderly and diabetics.
The disease occurs when the resistance is broken. The reasons that break the resistance can be listed as follows: Stress, sadness, insomnia, fatigue, malnutrition (long, unhealthy diets), cancer, resistance suppressants used in cancer treatment (drugs, radiation treatments, after accidents and poisonings, AIDS disease
How is the disease diagnosed and treated? Diagnosis is easy when skin symptoms are present. In the absence of skin symptoms, other diseases that may cause pain should be investigated.
What is the effect of stress on shingles?
There is an important link between shingles and stress. Severe stress situations, immunosuppressive conditions, chronic illnesses, severe infections such as cancer, chemotherapy or aids invite shingles.
When do shingles rashes and sores heal?
The sores take up to two weeks to heal, but the pain can persist for months. The older you get, the longer it takes for these pains to heal. This pain is also called "Post Herpetic Neuralgia". These nerve pains experienced in shingles can sometimes become very severe and wake you up at night and prevent you from sleeping. The quality of life of patients who experience these pains for a long time decreases significantly. In such cases, the use of medications that can be prescribed by the neurology department used for nerve pain may also be in question.
In younger patients with no comorbidities, the pain lasts for a maximum of one month. These patients do not need any medication other than classical painkillers. However, the complications of shingles increase with increasing age.
HOW IS SHINGLES TREATED?
Early diagnosis and treatment are of great importance in shingles. Antiviral agents should be started within the first 72 hours after the rash appears. In addition, vitamin B complexes should be taken to correct inflammatory nerve changes, local wound care creams for wounds and painkillers for pain. Rest and good nutrition contribute to a quicker recovery.