Think you may have shingles? Perhaps this sounds familiar. If you experience pain or a burning sensation in an area that has blisters, you may have shingles. Some of the other symptoms include sensitivity to touch, numbness or tingling, a noticeable rash that appears a few days after the pain, blisters that are filled with fluid, itching, and sometimes a fever, headache, fatigue, and a sensitivity to light.
Shingles is a viral infection eventually shows up as a painful rash on your body. The location of the rash can vary. The virus itself is from the same strain that causes chickenpox. After your body has healed from chickenpox, the virus actually becomes inactive and just settles in your nerve tissue near your spinal cord and brain. It can remain dormant there for years and years. However, at some point, the virus can become reactivated and form what is known as shingles.
While shingles won’t kill you necessarily, it can be extremely painful and uncomfortable. This article will offer you some methods, so you can find relief for your pain and continue living your life free from suffering.
- Antivirals
Unfortunately, there isn’t a cure for shingles. That being said, your doctor can prescribe you an antiviral that may shorten the duration of the virus and remove some of the symptoms. There are quite a few antiviral medications available. Be advised, of course, that with any medication, you may experience other side effects. Depending on how virile the virus is, the antiviral also may not do much to reduce the effects. However, by and large, those who take the prescribed medication have found that it has aided the reduction of their symptoms.
- Healing Baths
For those who prefer natural methods of treatment, you may want to consider a healing bath. Because the location of the virus can be found in the blisters, by regularly washing them and cleaning out the infection, you can reduce their spread. Professionals suggest using cool water instead of warm water as it can actually help reduce pain that you’re experiencing. If you’re feeling a lot of itching, then the cool water may actually help with that, too.
Besides just taking a cool bath, there are additional measures you can take to further use the bath as a treatment option. By adding one or two cups of colloidal oatmeal, you can use the mixture as an inflammatory. You should keep in mind that warm water can actually exacerbate your symptoms and cause shingles to spread because you’re promoting blood flow.
- Wet Compress
Perhaps best performed after a bath, using a wet compress can also help your body to heal and reduce shingle symptoms. All you need to do is take a cloth and wet it in cool water. Then simply wrap it around the affected area. You should do this several times through the day. Other variations of the compress might be to use an ice pack with the cloth, too, or to smooth a shingles cream that has been designated for medicinal purpose to the cloth, then compressing the area.
- Baking Soda
It can literally do anything. When combined with water, it can relieve itchiness and pain. Create a paste out of it and let it rest against the area for 10 to 15 minutes. Rinse and repeat if necessary throughout the day.
Reduce Your Pain
The pain that stems from the shingles virus can be unbearable at times. Because it is quite common, there are measures that can be taken to reduce your pain and discomfort. Whether you seek medication from your doctor or decide to follow an alternative, holistic, and natural path, these methods will hopefully give you the relief that you need. Try a few of them and end your shingles suffering now.
