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Postherpetic Neuralgia (or Post Herpetic Neuralgia) -- Sometimes abbreviated as PHN -- is a form of chronic Shingles Pain. The Right Shingles Treatment Can Help
| Shingles pain is medically referred to as postherpetic neuralgia (sometimes spelled as post herpetic neuralgia). Dr. Podell describes what it is and how shingles treatment can help alleviate painful symptoms. |
Shingles treatments can help alleviate the shingles pain of postherpetic neuralgia (post herpetic neuralgia). Dr. Podell explains it all.
Shingles pain is a delayed complication of childhood infection with the chicken pox virus, Varicella Zoster, a form of Herpes Virus. After childhood chicken pox, Varicella virus remains within nerve cells in the spinal cord in a kind of long-term hibernation. However, among about half of us the hiberating virus can wake up and become active. This is the disease we know as shingles.
Shingles pain begins when the varicella virus “wakes”, becomes infectious and migrates from the spinal cord down through the long filament or axon of a nerve. In addition to shingles pain, we usually see a line of tender vesicles or blebs on the skin over the path of the infected nerve.
Shingles treatments can reduce shingles pain if we start an anti herpes virus drug within the first two or three days of symptoms. Such shingles treatment medicines include Famvir, Valtrex and Acyclovir. With or without shingles treatment most cases of shingles heal within a few weeks or months. However, if we don’t obtain prompt shingles treatments, some 5 to 15% of shingles victims will go on to suffer from long-lasting chronic pain. This post-shingles pain is called Postherpetic neuralgia (also spelled: post herpetic neuralgia). Neuralgia means nerve pain. Another term for post herpetic neuralgia (postherpetic neuralgia) is PHN. Postherpetic neuralgia (post herpetic neuralgia) pain can last for many months, years or decades.
 Shingles treatments within the first few days substantially reduces the chances of developing late stage PHN. Indeed, even without anti-viral medicines, prompt shingles treatment with pain medicines or nerve stabilizing tricyclic antidepressant medicine, can also reduce the risk of postherpetic neuralgia (post herpetic neuralgia). However, for reasons we don’t understand, one can still develop PHN, even when one obtains prompt, early shingles treatment.
PHN starts with inflammation and damage within the shingles-infected nerve. But this is not all. The effects of shingles pain and nerve damage can also “flow” backward through the infected nerve into the spinal cord itself. In this way PHN can disrupt the pain-conducting pathways within the spine, and from the spine, on into the brain. We call this nerve-damage induced pain neuropathic pain. At this late stage of post herpetic neuralgia (postherpetic neuralgia) there is no longer an active viral infection. Anti-viral treatments for PHN usually don’t help. (Although there may be rare exceptions where antivirals might help.)
For some post herpetic neuralgia (postherpetic neuralgia) victims the pain is relatively modest –an annoying background ache, irritation or burning. Others with pain suffer shooting-pain paroxysms down the affected nerve. A third group with PHN has an even more disturbing postherpetic neuralgia (post herpetic neuralgia) pain problem. This is called allodynia–a diffusely increased sensitivity to pain of all kinds and also to other stimuli that normally would not be painful e.g.light pressure and even touch
To understand allodynia’s increased sensitivity to pain, think of your nervous system’s pain transmission pathways as a series of radios broadcasting sound signals--from the peripheral nerve up through stations stops within the spine, and finally up into the brain. Imagine that most or all these radio relays have their volume knobs turned up to “very loud”. That’s what allodynia means to our pain broadcasting system.
Increased postherpetic nerualgia (post herpetic neuralgia) pain sensitivity can be fairly local, just around the originally damaged nerve. In contrast, for others post herpetic neuralgia (postherpetic neuralgia) increased pain sensitivity can spread both up and down the spine, causing increased sensitivity to pain throughout the entire body. Fibromyalgia with diffusely sore, sensitive muscles, can be one result of post herpetic neuralgia pain-causing allodynia.
Please See:
See Fibromyalgia Treatments and Fibromyalgia Diets
Bad osteoarthritis pain, recurring migraine headache, and whiplash injuries can also cause allodynia. And increased neural sensitivity is often not limited just to pain. One may also become more sensitive to bright lights, loud noises, smells, caffeine, medicine-side effects, changes in weather, and vulnerability to stress. Chronic Fatigue often becomes a problem, as can depression, anxiety and stress-related disorders
See Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Treatments
See Thyroid, Hypothyroid and Fibromyalgia for discussion of a theory relating fibromyalgia and thyroid
More Information on shingles treatment for Postherpetic Neuralgia (Post Herpetic Neuralgia)
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