Shingles Treatment - How to cure shingles fast and naturally at home

Shingles Cause, Symptoms and Treatment

Shingles is an ailment most commonly associated with the elderly, but it can in fact infect the young as well. Referred to many times as revenge of the chicken pox, shingles can be irritating to downright painful depending on the severity and the age of the patient. If you have, a red, itchy rash and are wondering if you may be getting a second round of shingles, the following information will be include symptoms, causes and potential shingle treatment options.

Shingles

First you should understand the what and why of shingles. As stated above shingles actually originate as chicken pox or herpes zoster virus. The name shingles originates from French and Latin words meaning belt or girdle, which is the signature manner in which the blisters wrap around the upper body. Shingles can appear on just about any area of the body and generally develop as a stripe of blisters isolated to one side of the body. People have even been known to get a ring of shingles around one eye or even inside the mouth.

Prior to Outbreak

As a rule, shingles will not spring up without any notice. There are generally signs preceding the rash, which can include:

• Fever- low grade most of the time
• Chills
• Fatigue
• Headache
• Light sensitivity
• Aching in diverse areas
• Numbness or tingling in the outbreak area
• Pain
• Rare- dizziness or changes in vision

How it Works

The varicella virus (that is the virus that causes chicken pox) never truly goes away if you have had the chicken pox. Instead, it takes up residents along your nerve pathways and takes a very long, sometimes permanent nap or if you want the more technical term for it, goes dormant. Normally the virus will stay dormant in your system and you will have nothing more to worry about until you are much older.

However, there are many perfectly healthy young people who have dealt with shingles. If you are younger and experiencing, this virus it is likely because your immune system is compromised. Infection, certain diseases and even stress can stimulate an outbreak. Once awakened the virus travels along the nerves and up to the skin surface resulting in small blister clusters that generally run in a line or half circle around the body, the upper torso being a favored location. The blisters will eventually burst, crust over and begin to heal, until the next round. You may suffer shingles once or multiple times depending on the state of your immune system.

Nutritional Connection

Is lack of nutrition at the root of your shingles problem? Perhaps not directly, but there is definitely an indirect link. Consider this, if shingles and cold sores are more prone to flaring when you are ill or immune compromised then keeping yourself healthy is a great idea! Plenty of sleep, exercises and nutrient rich vegetables could make all the difference. It has also been suggested by professionals that taking lysine could stave off outbreaks. Lysine is an amino acid found in dark green leafy vegetables (that you are probably not eating enough of!) which fight the herpes simplex viruses.

Treatment

As you probably already know since shingles is a virus, you may be under the impression that you can simply allow it to run its course. This is an option, however you will at least want to treat the rash and do your best to prevent secondary infections.

• Keep the area dry and clean
• Try not to scratch
• Apply topical anti-itch cream (a cream with zinc additives is often helpful)

Home Remedies

Shingles treatment at home will merely deal with the rash itself and not the underlying cause with few exceptions. If you wake in the night with an outbreak of shingles however, it is good to have some instant relief at hand until you can see your medical professional. Here are a few home remedies for topical application only:

• Half cup apple cider vinegar mixed in two cups clean water- dab on the affected area
• Two crushed aspirins in a small amount of alcohol makes an effective itch and pain reliever
• Cold Compress- baking soda and water paste
• Hydrogen peroxide- apply if you see any sign of infection in the blisters
• Raw honey, leek juice and aloe Vera, mix and smooth over skin
• Zinc oxide- great for drying blisters and may even slow their development if applied at the first signs

Often the best home shingles treatment includes a cold pack and barring that a cool wet towel laid over the area will do wonders to soothe the itching, burning and pain associated with this virus. Rest and relaxation are also recommended. A good night’s sleep and meditation can do wonders when it comes to shingles treatment.

Call the Doctor

Honestly, it is best to call your physician immediately if you think you have shingles. Since they can be a signal that there are other serious issues going on, it is best to seek professional medical advice for your shingles treatment. Of course, if you do treat at home you should watch for serious complications that warrant a trip to the doctor’s office. Call immediately if:

• Shingles occur on the face, especially near your eyes, without shingles treatment you run a real risk of losing your eyesight.
• Older individuals should always seek medical attention at the first sign of shingles
• When your pain or rash is wide spread
• If anyone in your household is immunosuppressed

Your physician will likely offer a strong antiviral such as acyclovir as a shingles treatment. This will lessen your discomfort to some degree and shorten the cycle of the virus. It is also very common to receive a prescription for pain medication as shingles likes to dance along the nerve endings and can cause a good deal of pain.

The biggest problem with shingles is not the onset or life of the virus, though an itching rash is never a day at the beach. For some people the real problems begin after the blisters have subsided. Post herpetic neuralgia is the real danger when it comes to shingles. Unchecked the virus can damage your nerves and leaving you in constant pain for months or even years after the outbreak has subsided. This occurs most commonly in older patients, those over age 50 at the time of the outbreak.

Post herpetic Neuralgia Treatment

At this stage of the game shingles, treatment has evolved into pain management. There are varieties of prescription drugs that can help easy your symptoms including:

• Anti-seizure
• Anti-depressants (which will also help you sleep)
• Hydrocodone
• Codeine
• Lidocaine skin patches
• Electrical stimulation – (for severe cases)
• Expert Pain management

Teens and Shingles

Although shingles is considered a problem for the elderly or infirm, young people including teenagers can suffer from the virus. It is rare for a child under the age of ten to develop shingles, though it has happened! Approximately 5% of all shingle cases occur in children under the age of 15. The good news is the symptoms are generally milder and there is little chance they will develop post-herpetic neuralgia. Studies have shown there is an increased risk for shingles in children if they had chicken pox before one year of age or their mother had chicken pox while they were in-utero. Young people prone to cold sores seem to be at a slightly higher risk, but the difference is negligible.

Prevention

Preventing shingles is a tricky business, especially if you want to protect your children. Many parents believe that by giving their children the chicken pox vaccination they are preventing later cases of shingles. This is not the case; a chicken pox vaccine is not guarantee against future shingle outbreaks. There has been a vaccine developed for older adults, a one-time dose of Zostavax can be given to adults over 60 years of age.

Serious Issues

For many years shingles has been considered just one of the many things you must deal with as you age, after all there is no cure for the virus. Today medical science has advanced and there are some really good reasons to consider vaccination and early shingles treatment options. If you are tempted to shrug them off as another of life’s little annoyances, you may want to consider some of the more serious side effects.

We have already talked about the long-term pain and potential vision loss, but did you know brain swelling is also a possibility? Hearing and balance problems have also been linked to severe cases of the virus. If you are 50 years old or older, you might want to seriously consider the vaccination against shingles. Parents are also encouraged to have their child vaccinated, as a precautionary maneuver. The vaccines are not a 100% guarantee that you will never get shingles, but those who do generally have milder cases and suffer no post herpetic neuralgia.

Conclusion

Taking care of yourself and maintaining regular checkups are also great preventative measures when it comes to shingles. Prevention is definitely the better part of cure and while there is no complete cure if you stay in the best shape possible and prevent your immune system from becoming stressed your risk is much lower. Keep in mind that many of the severe side effects listed here are rare, especially if you seek early treatment for an outbreak. Stressing out about the possibilities will only make your situation worse. Instead, take a proactive approach, do what you can at home to relieve your symptoms and make a doctor’s appointment at your earliest convenience if you want the best possible outcome for your shingles treatment.