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How Can Shingles Be Treated?
I have a mild case of shingles but it’s the third time I’ve had it the first time being the worst. I’ve had problems with my knees for 20 years now due to injury on leg lift machine, pain comes and goes but now with these shingles I’m in severe pain on my right knee down my calf and shingles are on left side under breast and two on inner upper arm, I can’t sleep well , feel sluggish and can’t walk without pain! I put heating pad , icy hot but no ice yet what should I do?
Wed, 11 Jul 2018
Hello and Welcome to ‘Ask A Doctor’ service.
I have reviewed your query and here is my advice.
Shingles can cause vesicles that are very painful and to help with pain there are a few things you can do. You can try to take ibuprofen to reduce inflammation but most of the patients do not find much relieve with that so if no help you can try the following medications:
- capsaicin patch
- lignocaine cream locally
These are local treatments but there are also oral medication that can help:
- if the infection is less than 3 days you can take acyclovir tablets which your doctor might prescribe for you to fight the virus. You should drink plenty while on acyclovir so that the kidneys are not effected.
- gabapentin is a medication to help with nerve pain as shingles causes the pain through hurting the nerve. The doctor should prescribe it for you if the pain is so bad and not effected with the other means.
Shingles lesions generally heal within 10 days to 2 weeks so it is expected that you will feel better within this time.
Hope I have answered your query.
Let me know if I can assist you further.
Kind regards,
Antoneta Zotaj, MD
I have reviewed your query and here is my advice.
Shingles can cause vesicles that are very painful and to help with pain there are a few things you can do. You can try to take ibuprofen to reduce inflammation but most of the patients do not find much relieve with that so if no help you can try the following medications:
- capsaicin patch
- lignocaine cream locally
These are local treatments but there are also oral medication that can help:
- if the infection is less than 3 days you can take acyclovir tablets which your doctor might prescribe for you to fight the virus. You should drink plenty while on acyclovir so that the kidneys are not effected.
- gabapentin is a medication to help with nerve pain as shingles causes the pain through hurting the nerve. The doctor should prescribe it for you if the pain is so bad and not effected with the other means.
Shingles lesions generally heal within 10 days to 2 weeks so it is expected that you will feel better within this time.
Hope I have answered your query.
Let me know if I can assist you further.
Kind regards,
Antoneta Zotaj, MD
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