Shingles

Short characteristic of a disease

Shingles concerns to group of acute infectious diseases. Shingles affects peripheral nerves on some the site of skin that leads to organism intoxication, an inflammation of back roots of a spinal cord and emergence of bubble rash. As a rule, adults and children aged from 10 years suffer from this infection, and shingles develops only at those persons who had chicken pox. Racial, sexual and seasonal factors do not exert any impact on emergence and progressing of a disease.

Shingles reasons

The causative agent of shingles – a virus of chicken pox – affects intervertebral nerve ganglions and back roots of a spinal cord. Enter people who into risk group:

• are affected, weakening immunity (chemotherapy, beam treatment, an immunotherapy, HIV infection);
• often overtire or test constant psychological tension;
• have oncological diseases;
• are in old age and pay not enough attention to the health.

All these factors can cause shingles which symptoms are shown as a result of activation of a latent form of a virus of chicken pox. For many years shingles could not have any clinical symptoms, but coincidence of adverse factors forced it to wake up.

Symptoms of shingles

It is possible to allocate four groups of symptoms of shingles: pains, disorders of sensitivity, general intoxication and skin manifestations.

Most often disorders of sensitivity at shingles are observed in the field of rashes and the cicatrized sores, but can be shown also on healthy sites of skin. Treat symptoms of the general intoxication:

• weakness;
• loss of appetite;
• nausea, vomiting;
• temperature increase;
• loss of body weight.

Pain arises some days before emergence of bubble rash. They amplify at night or under the influence of any external irritants (cold, heat, touches). At the diagnosis shingles of pain are localized on the course of nerves and can change from moderated to intolerable. In certain cases patients with shingles note existence of a severe headache which amplifies when changing position of the head.

Skin manifestations at shingles are also localized on the course of nerves. They have an appearance of small red spots of various form or the small bubbles surrounded with a rim of dark red color. These bubbles are filled with transparent contents and pass through several weeks, leaving behind only the dried-up crust. If the started shingles is found in the person, treatment of skin manifestations can longer continue usual as inflammatory process quite often affects deep layers of skin, gets into a derma. In such cases bubbles recover completely too, but leave deep hems. As for localization of rash, at most of patients it appears on all body, in the same way as at chicken pox.

Possible complications of shingles

At a heavy clinical current and inadequate treatment shingles can lead to serious complications. The most widespread of them:

• the paralyzes which are shown owing to defeat of motive branches of nerves;
• pneumonias, duodenum, bladder;
• damages of eyes of varying severity;
• paralysis of a facial nerve and distortion of the person on one party.

Due to the risk of development of complications, doctors urge patients to refuse self-treatment and in time to ask for the help in specialized institutions. If patients use exclusively folk remedies, shingles will never pass completely and considerably will worsen quality of human life.

Treatment of shingles

The main actions are directed to destruction of a virus of herpes and decrease in intensity of pain. As a rule, health workers use antiviral drugs (Methisazonum, an acyclovir, валацикловир, фамцикловир). For removal of pains ganglioblokator (Pyrilenum, Gangleronum) are used. Let's notice that severe pains can remain even after deflorescence and the termination of a course of treatment therefore at an extract from hospital analgetics are recommended to patients (aspirin, analginum, paracetamol, indometacin). If the heavy, started shingles treatment is diagnosed includes reception of anticonvulsant drugs and piperidic acid.

National treatment of shingles

Once again there is a wish to note that national treatment of shingles is addition to the main medical procedures and in any way differently. Otherwise the patient risks to catch a set of serious complications, including paralyzes and distortion of features.

For removal of pains and an itch at the surrounding herpes the following folk remedies traditionally are used:

• bathing in sulfur or salty water;
• greasing of the damaged sites of skin oil of bitter almonds;
• compresses from the bread mixed with salt which are put to a body 1-2 times a day for 20-30 minutes;
• well help at shingles folk remedies from leaves of a burdock or fresh juice of this plant. Consider only that before making a compress, leaves need to be filled in with boiled water and to insist within 12 hours. Instead of a burdock it is possible to use a fresh grass of the toadflax welded with milk and mixed with butter in a proportion 1:1.