Shingles
By: Michelle Sorg Many of us may have never even heard of Shingles. I know that personally I had not until my mother had it when I was pregnant. Throughout this paper you will learn many things. What exactly Shingles is? , what causes Shingles? , the symptoms, how long it is contagious, how you are diagnosed, & what your treatment options are. There are a few other things I might just throw in there right along with it the information I am providing. Believe it or not Shingles is a skin rash that is caused by a skin inflammation and by a nerve from the same virus that previously caused the chicken pox. The virus is actually called varicella zoster virus, also known as VZV. It actually belongs to the herpes family or viruses. Not the type of herpes that is sexually transmitted either (in case you were thinking that). Once you have had the chicken pox, the virus lives dormant in our nervous system and never clear our body. If you are under emotional stress, immune deficiency, or have cancer, the virus will reactivate causing Shingles. For most cases the cause of the reaction is never found. Mostly it shows up in people who are over the age of 60, but can be found in people who are younger than that. Another fact to know is that if an adult or child comes in contact with someone who has Shingles and they did not have chicken pox or the chicken pox vaccine, than they can develop the chicken pox, not shingles. There can be many signs to having the shingles. You may at first think that it is just a simple rash, when it really is not. The first common symptom is usually one sided pain, tingling, or burning. The burning and pain sensation can be severe and usually happens before the rash even appears. You may also notice red patches of the skin, which small blisters follow on most people. Some other symptoms could include: * Abdominal pain * Fever & chills * General ill feeling * Genital sores * Headache * Joint pain * Swollen glands * Difficulty moving some of the muscles in the face * Drooping eyelid * Hearing loss * Loss of eye motion * Taste problems * Vision problems
Now all of these symptoms may not occur. It is just some to be aware of. Shingles is contagious and can be spread from an affected person to babies, children, or adults, who have not had the chicken pox. But like I said before, they will develop chicken pox and not shingles. Once they have had the chicken pox the person cannot catch shingles or contract the virus from someone else. But once you are infected you are prone to getting shingles later on in life. You may wonder how is diagnosed? Well the clinical appearance of shingles has the characteristics of painful blisters, which are usually located on the region of a specific nerve. There are no diagnostic tests that are required to be done. But in some cases people with impaired immune function, shingles may sometimes not display the characteristics pattern. If that is to happen than samples from the infected area may be tested in the lab, either by culturing the tissue for growth of the virus or by identifying the genetic material of the virus. There are several treatments for shingles. There are drugs that you can take to fight the virus. Some are known as Zovirax, Valtrex, & Famvir, theses medicines can reduce the severity and duration of the rash if started within the first 72 hours of the rash appearing. In addition to those medication there is also pain medications that may be needed for your symptom control. No steroidal anti-inflammatory medications and narcotic pain medications may be used for pain management when having shingles. Make sure that you keep the infected area clean. Cool compression and anti-itch lotions could help with some relief. There can also