If you find yourself suffering from shingles, or adult chicken pox, as the disease is often known, you're probably suffering from pain, itching, fever, and other symptoms. This means you're probably searching everywhere for a shingles cure. Well, you're in for some bad news: just like chicken pox, there is no shingles cure.
There are, however, several different treatments and medications you can use to shorten the illness and help relieve the pain, itching, and other symptoms. These include antiviral medications that reduce the duration of the illness, some topical creams to relieve the itching and pain, and some pain medications to reduce the fever.
Your doctor should prescribe some antiviral medication once he or she diagnoses you with shingles. Starting on this medication within the first couple of days of seeing shingles will lower your chances of any complications. It's very important to treat shingles as soon as possible because if you don't, the illness can become more serious. The more serious it gets, the more shingles is resistant to treatments. You should take your antiviral medication in conjunction with over the counter pain relievers, corticosteroids, and topical creams. Using all four medications will greatly help reduce the symptoms of shingles.
These initial forms of treatment should be enough to get rid of the infection. However, if you continue to experience pain for a month or so after the rash has gone, you may have postherpetic neuralgia. It can actually result in pain for years, and it affects between ten and fifteen percent of everyone who has shingles. Again, there is no cure for postherpetic neuralgia, but there are treatments, including antidepressant medication, topical creams, anticonvulsant medication, and pain killers like codeine.
If your shingles complications get even worse, your doctor may have to perform surgery or may prescribe more powerful antibiotics and antiviral medication depending on the symptoms.
If you want to learn more about the treatment for shingles, or indeed the symptoms of shingles, click on one of the links and visit our site for a more in-depth read.