09-11-2007, 10:58 AM
My aunt had been driven mad with painful itchy rash and finally went to see a doctor. He diagnosed shingles. Can't say I have ever heard of it. She said it is some sort of virus, so does anyone have any info on it?
09-11-2007, 10:58 AM
09-12-2007, 05:56 AM
Ouch, that can be be painful. A few in my family have had it over the years, with my brother in so much pain he needed morphine to help. Here is a pretty good article on it.
Quote:
Shingles is caused by the virus that causes chickenpox. After someone has recovered from chickenpox, the chickenpox virus still remains in their body, in an inactive state at the base of nerve cells that supply sensation to the skin. Years or decades later, in about 10 to 20 per cent of people who have had chickenpox, the inactive virus will become active again. When reactivated, the virus multiplies and spreads along the nerve it has been occupying, to the area of skin supplied by that nerve, where it causes the pain and rash of shingles.
More details here. http://www.mydr.com.au/default.asp?article=2457
08-01-2008, 08:49 AM
Wow that sounds really bad. I hope it doesn't give you too hard of a time. It osunds like Monsoons's brother had a very extreme case of the condition. Good luck with your endeavours, and hopefully you won't have to use such a strong med as morphine.
08-01-2008, 12:20 PM
As far as I know I have never had chicken pox, so hopefully I will never experience tshingles. But my three daughters have had them so let's hope the virus stays dormant in them forever.
08-31-2008, 05:22 PM
My girlfriend in college had shingles, it was so painful for her.
09-01-2008, 12:03 PM
Where was her outbreak Tony?
09-26-2008, 03:51 PM
Herpes zoster (or simply zoster), commonly known as shingles, is a viral disease characterised by a painful skin rash with blisters in a limited area on one side of the body, often in a stripe. This could be very painful.