Starting antiviral therapy immediately prevents the chance of developing severe nerve pain called postherpetic neuralgia. It’s oftentimes debilitating with little effective treatment.
Most cases of shingles can be diagnosed by a doctor from a visual examination. Although there is no cure for shingles, early treatment with antiviral medications can help the blisters clear up faster ...
I read your recent column on shingles. I am 66 and in fairly good health. I had both Shingrix shots about five years ago and take hydroxyurea for polycythemia vera (PV).
I agree that your PV and its treatment with hydroxyurea may have predisposed you to the complication of shingles that you had, called postherpetic neuralgia (PHN). You are quite right that the pain ...
The blistering skin rash accompanying shingles also causes severe pain, with both pain and rash lasting up to four weeks. Between 10-18% of those who get shingles develop post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN) ...