Shingles

 

Shingles is a painful red rash caused by the same virus that causes chicken pox. It is believed that at the time a child has chicken pox the virus crawls up a sensory nerve and then lays dormant in the spinal cord. When an adult, if they become run down or stressed the virus can reactivate, infecting the nerve root of the sensory nerve. This inflammation in the spinal cord results in impulses going the wrong way down sensory nerves to the tissues that nerve supplies. The faulty information causes a massive upset to the local blood supply resulting in a painful red rash and blisters. This is strictly along the course of the nerve involved and therefore only occurs on one side of the body.

Shingles most commonly affects the lower part of the trunk radiating around the trunk on one side only. Occasionally it can be up the neck and face, involving the eye. Rarely, two nerves are involved, in which case the second one may be involved a week or so after the first one prolonging the illness.

of the truth of this as I have seen a number of people who contracted the disease two or so weeks after visiting a child who had chicken pox. You cannot catch shingles from a person with shingles but it is possible to acquire chicken pox from a person with shingles. It is also possible to get shingles twice or more in one’s life. It should be remembered that the fluid in these blisters is contaminated with the chicken pox virus so must be treated with great caution

  • Taking vitamin B complex may lessen your vulnerability to the disease and also the side effects of the disease especially depression and lethargy.
  • Ice (frozen peas) to the vertebrae just above the rash reduces the inflammation, cuts back the circulation and reduces the oedema in the spinal cord (1 -1.5 minutes).
  • Interx electrostimulation will help symptoms