Shingles,Herpes zoster

Herpes zoster (also known as Shingles or Zona) is a disease in humans. The same virus that causes chickenpox also causes shingles. The symptoms are pain and a rash with blisters.

Shingles is a viral disease produced by the varicella zoster virus (VZV), the same virus that causes chicken pox. Its symptoms include pain and a blistering rash that occurs along the nerves that contain dormant virus. You can not catch shingles. However, you can catch chicken pox through direct contact with someone who has shingles, by touching the area of the rash. Most people who get shingles are old. It sometimes infects younger people, or people with a weakened immune system. Stress may trigger shingles. The disease starts with tingling, itchiness, or pain on an infected person's skin. After a few days, the disease causes a blistering rash. This rash may be on the trunk or face. The rash grows into small blisters filled with fluid. These blisters dry out and crust over for several days. The rash causes anything from mild itching to extreme pain. The rash stays in one region of the body.

Treatment for Herpes zoster

There is no cure for shingles, but treatment may shorten the length of illness and prevent complications. Treatment options include:

Antiviral medicines to reduce the pain and duration of shingles.
Pain medicines, antidepressants, and topical creams to relieve long-term pain.
Initial treatment
As soon as you are diagnosed with shingles, your doctor probably will start treatment with antiviral medicines. If you begin medicines within the first 3 days of seeing the shingles rash camera.gif, you have a lower chance of having later problems, such as postherpetic neuralgia.

reduce the pain and the duration of shingles.
Over-the-counter pain medicines, such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen, to help reduce pain during an attack of shingles. Be safe with medicines. Read and follow all instructions on the label.
Topical antibiotics, applied directly to the skin, to stop infection of the blisters.
For severe cases of shingles, some doctors may have their patients use corticosteroids along with antiviral medicines. But corticosteroids are not used very often for shingles. This is because studies show that taking a corticosteroid along with an antiviral medicine doesn't help any more than just taking an antiviral medicine by itself.2