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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Shingles On The Lower Back. Need Medication For Itching

Around 7 years I had a break out of shingles , lower part of my back. Now, I see the light pink and red appearing again in the same area I had shingles several years ago. I am in the early stages and hope that I can put on some sort of cream that may help my itching. I started using Cortizone, not sure if that is a good idea.
Thu, 28 Feb 2013
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Critical Care Specialist 's  Response
Dear patient, you are right that you may be having recurrent episode of of shingles . Early treatement (i.e treatement with in 72 hours of onset of rash) with antiviral medication can help in early resolution of your rash as well as in the prevention of post herpretic neuralgia. Shingles is caused by varicella zoster virus , so you can take anti viral medications like aciclovir, famciclovir or valaciclovir orally, as well as use an antiviral cream for local application. For itching you can take antihistaminics orally rather than applying steroid creams because steroids whether given locally ,orally or in injectable form can cause exaggeration of the viral infections including shingles virus . More over antibiotics may be required to prevent and treat secondary bacterial infections .Besides this , you can get yourself evaluvated for some immunocompromising condition that might have precipitated the recurrence like Diabetes mellitus.
So you can take following treatement
Tab aciclovir 800 mg 5 times daily for seven days after meals
Aciclovir cream for local application thrice daily
Tab ultracet i tab as and when required if you have pain also
Tab cetrizine 10 mg at bed time and as and when required
Fusiwal ointment for local application twice daily
Before starting treatement get your kidney function and liver function test done
However before starting treatement you should better show your self to some doctor to see wheather it is really shingles or some other dermatological disorder like contact dermititis, psoriasis, pytriasis rosea etc
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Dermatologist Dr. Dr. Rahul Kumar's  Response
Hello dear itching is a common symptom after shingle.
Cortizone is a good option.
You can use it for 15 days. But dont use more than that. You can use calasoft oint instead.
Thank you
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Shingles On The Lower Back. Need Medication For Itching

Dear patient, you are right that you may be having recurrent episode of of shingles . Early treatement (i.e treatement with in 72 hours of onset of rash) with antiviral medication can help in early resolution of your rash as well as in the prevention of post herpretic neuralgia. Shingles is caused by varicella zoster virus , so you can take anti viral medications like aciclovir, famciclovir or valaciclovir orally, as well as use an antiviral cream for local application. For itching you can take antihistaminics orally rather than applying steroid creams because steroids whether given locally ,orally or in injectable form can cause exaggeration of the viral infections including shingles virus . More over antibiotics may be required to prevent and treat secondary bacterial infections .Besides this , you can get yourself evaluvated for some immunocompromising condition that might have precipitated the recurrence like Diabetes mellitus. So you can take following treatement Tab aciclovir 800 mg 5 times daily for seven days after meals Aciclovir cream for local application thrice daily Tab ultracet i tab as and when required if you have pain also Tab cetrizine 10 mg at bed time and as and when required Fusiwal ointment for local application twice daily Before starting treatement get your kidney function and liver function test done However before starting treatement you should better show your self to some doctor to see wheather it is really shingles or some other dermatological disorder like contact dermititis, psoriasis, pytriasis rosea etc