How To Manage Shingles Pain?

If we are talking about pain, and the diseases which can present too much pain and discomfort—probably, SHINGLES will be part of the list. Shingles is a reactivation of the infection due to herpes zoster virus (HZV). Herpes zoster virus may be acquired earlier in the life of a person due to diseases like chicken pox, etc. These types of viruses lie dormant in our nerve endings and when they reactivate, these can present with a rash, similar to that of a chicken pox, but this time with a very excruciating pain on the site of the rash.

What makes shingles pain different from other forms of pain that a person can feel is that shingles pain is neural in origin, which means the pain originates or targets the nerve endings of the affected area. Pain will definitely be sharp and shooting and can make you writhe to get relief.

Knowing such, shingles pain relief is one of the focuses of symptomatic intervention in a person with shingles. Since shingles is a viral infection, it will clear up on its own after a week or two so the treatment would be symptomatic—that is, treating the symptoms that presents with the certain disease.

Symptomatic shingles pain relief may come in various forms. Here are a few common pain relief methods that may help a person with shingles:

Antiviral Medications

Antiviral medications can lessen the complications of shingles and can help speed up recovery from the disease. One common antiviral drugs used to treat shingles are Acyclovir and Valacyclovir.

Pain Relief Medications

Acetaminophen can promote alleviation from the intense pain. If such drugs do not work as they should, other more potent analgesics can be given/ administered to lessen pain.

Deep Breathing Exercises

Simple as it may seem, deep breathing exercises can relax our body and can lessen the intensity of pain. Deep breathing techniques work by diverting the pain stimuli from reaching our brain to be interpreted as pain.

Divertional Activities Like Watching TV and Talking to Someone

Many incidences of pain, aside from shingles pain, is due to a person’s unoccupied mind and body. A certain theory of pain contends that once a “gate” in our spinal cord is opened, pain can be felt but once it is closed, pain can have the tendency to be disregarded by the brain. One way of closing that certain “gate” is to provide a person with activities which can preoccupy him or her. Diversional activities like playing simple games, watching a movie, listening to music or simply by having conversation with someone can result in pain relief.

Shingles pain is not something to joke about because even when a person is free and fully recovered from this infection, pain may still persist intermittently even in a span of years and decades. This is because shingles virus tends to live in our nerve endings so momentarily, this can flare up and present with pain. Thus, it is important to be aware of both non-pharmacologic and pharmacologic methods of pain relief.