Understanding Shingles Symptoms And How To Respond To 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.

During the progression of this illness, local pain and tingling might occur. This is usually termed as nerve pain and it is a sign of a forthcoming shingles eruption. This is often followed by the development of a rash that looks like an apron around the abdomen. If you have tingles on the skin of your belly, it could mean that an outbreak is on the horizon.

Once the rash develops, it will be red, raised and painful to the touch. Much like chicken pox, it will also be very itchy. Even if you have been vaccinated against chicken pox and especially if you have had them before, you can still get shingles. Getting immunized is just a preventative measure that you should take nonetheless.

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.

Much like any other virus, it cannot be cured. Your doctor, however, can still prescribe a number of effective medications for suppressing it. This is going to shorten the duration of the outbreak and its severity so that you have less pain and for a shorter amount of time. Suppressing medications can also prevent the spread of the rash to protect the eyes. Remember, you should not scratch your itchy skin. Beyond resulting in the spread of problems, this can also leave you vulnerable to 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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