Friday, February 9, 2018

What Shingles Symptoms Are And What To Do About Them

By Pamela Wilson


Called the herpes zoster virus, shingles is a form of chicken pox that is often developed in the later stages of life. For aging adults, this illness can be extremely serious. Beyond spreading across the body quickly, it can also create a significant amount of pain that leads to secondary, health troubles. Following are just a few shingles symptoms that elderly people can experience experience along with advice for dealing with them.

It is often hard to identify the early symptoms of this illness. As an example, you will usually feel very fatigued and your glands or lymph nodes may start to swell. This means that your body is doing its best to fight the infection off, even before it manifests outwardly.

The next step in the progression of this illness is local tingling sensation. This is nerve pain and it means that a rash will likely develop in short order. This occurs as an apron-like blemish that wraps around the abdominal area. As such, if your skin in this area is tingle, it could mean that shingles are about to appear.

After this rash manifests, you will have a raised, red and painful patch of skin that is uncomfortable when you touch it. Like the chicken pox virus, shingles is also itchy. If you have received a chicken pox vaccine or have had chicken pox before, it is still possible to get shingles. People are still advised to receive their vaccinations given that it is still a worthwhile preventative measure.

There are some people who get the rash on facial areas. Beyond being visually unappealing, this can also be quite uncomfortable. More importantly, facial shingles can start spreading towards the scalp and even to your eyes. Serious problems can develop if this is allowed to happen. This is why seniors are advised to see their doctors as quickly as possible.

Like all other viruses, there is no cure for this illness. There are, however, medications that your doctor can prescribe that are designed to suppress viruses. This will limit the duration of your illness and its overall severity so that you'll be less uncomfortable and for a much shorter period of time. It can also prevent the rash from spreading into dangerous areas, such as into the eye area. Keep in mind that it is also important to avoid scratching. Not only will this cause the problem to spread, but it will also open the skin and create the risk of secondary skin infections.

Seniors should understand that the pain of this illness can have a very negative impact on their blood pressure levels. This is all the more important to bear in mind if you have heart disease or have been diagnosed with hypertension. Getting timely medical care will reduce the secondary effects of this illness while protecting your general health.

This is by far, one of the most painful problems that aging adults can contend with. It often develops when the immune system is not functioning at optimum levels or when people are stressed out. If you experience symptoms like these and have an itchy, painful rash develop on your abdomen, neck or face, be sure to talk with your doctor right away in order to receive the proper treatment and care.




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