Treatment, but most importantly- Prevention!

Although Shingles can clear on its own, early treatment is vital in order to reduce its painful effects.  If people do not seek immediate treatment, then their risk for chronic pain, numbness, itching, and tingling increases significantly (ADA, 2015). Within 72 hours of diagnosis, a provider should prescribe a certain type of Anti-Viral (ADA, 2015).  It is important to understand that since a virus causes this condition, you CANNOT take an antibiotic.  Antibiotics only treat bacterial infections.  This is a common misconception.  The most commonly prescribed medications for shingles include Acyclovir, Valacyclovir, or Famciclovir (Mayo Clinic, 2014).  Below I have created a chart to show how each of these medications acts to fight the virus, as well as the most common side effects that you may experience. 

Drug Name	Mechanism of Action	Common Side Effects
Acyclovir	Interferes with viral DNA synthesis.  Inhibits viral replication, viral shedding, and reduced time to healing lesions.	·      Dizziness, headaches ·      Diarrhea, nausea, vomiting ·      Joint pain
Valacyclovir	Rapidly converts to Acyclovir (See above)	·      Headaches, agitation, confusion ·      Nausea, abdominal pain
Famciclovir	Inhibits viral DNA syntheses. Decreases duration of herpes zoster infection and deceases viral shedding.	·      Headache, dizziness, fatigue ·      Palpitations ·      Diarrhea, nausea, vomiting

(Davis Drug Guide, 2015)

In addition to treating the virus, providers should also treat the patient’s pain, and itching.  For the itching, wet compresses, calamine lotion, and oatmeal baths may help (CDC, 2014).  For the pain, your provider may prescribe a variety of medications.  Before jumping into oral medications, providers may have you try numbing agents, creams, or corticosteroid injections as the site of rash outbreak. Depending on the description of your pain, a provider may also prescribe oral medications like non-opioid analgesics such as Tylenol or Advil, opioid analgesics such as Oxycodone, or adjuvant analgesics such as antidepressants (Amitriptyline) or anticonvulsants (Gabapentin) (Mayo Clinic, 2014).  

Although there are treatments for Shingles, it is best for your health to prevent the reactivation of the virus in the first place.  The best way to do this if you have already caught the chicken pox it to receive the Shingles vaccines.  The Shingles vaccine, Zostavax, reduced the risk of Shingles by 51% (CDC, 2014).  The CDC has laid out basic criteria of who should and should not receive the vaccine.  For this information, please visit http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/shingles/vacc-need-know.htm

References

American Academy of Dermatology. (2015). How do dermatologists treat shingles? Shingles: Diagnosis, Treatment, and Outcome.  Retrieved from https://www.aad.org/dermatology-a-to-z/diseases-and-treatments/q---t/shingles/diagnosis-treatment

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2014). Prevention and treatment. Shingles (Herpes Zoster). Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/shingles/about/prevention-treatment.html

Davis Drug Guide. (2015). Retrieved from http://www.drugguide.com/ddo/

Mayo Clinic. (2014). Treatments and drugs. Shingles. Retrieved from http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/shingles/basics/treatment/con-20019574