What are Shingles?

Also known as Herpes Zoster, shingles is a painful rash that develops on one side of the face or body. Shingles is caused by the same virus that causes chickenpox.  After a person recovers from chickenpox, the virus stays dormant (inactive) in their body. The virus can reactivate later, causing shingles.

Before the rash appears, people often have pain, itching, burning or tingling in the area where it will develop.  Other early symptoms of shingles may include: fever, chills, headache, feeling tired, light sensitivity or an upset stomach.

The rash consists of blisters that appear as a band or a patch, usually on one side of your body. Within three to four days, the rash develops into red, fluid-filled, painful, open blisters that typically scab over in 7 to 10 days and fully clears up within 2 to 4 weeks.

In rare cases (usually in people with weakened immune systems), the rash may be more widespread on the body and look similar to a chickenpox rash.  Shingles on the face can affect the eye and cause vision loss.

If you have shingles, direct contact with the fluid from your rash blisters can spread the virus to people who have never been exposed to chickenpox. If they get infected, they will develop chickenpox, not shingles which predisposes them to developing shingles later in life.

The risk of spreading the virus to others is low if you cover the shingles rash. People with shingles cannot spread the virus before their rash blisters appear or after the rash crusts.

Nearly 1 in 3 Canadians develops Herpes Zoster in their lifetime. The incidence and severity of both Herpes Zoster and the possibility of developing Post Herpetic Neuralgia increase after the age of 50.

What causes Shingles?

Not everyone gets Shingles so why do some people get it while others don’t?

The chickenpox virus doesn’t leave your body after you have chickenpox. Instead, the virus stays in a portion of your spinal nerve root called the dorsal root ganglion. For the majority of people, the virus stays there quietly and doesn't cause problems.

People who are more likely to develop shingles include those:

·       With a weakened immune system (such as people with cancer, HIV, organ transplant recipients or those receiving chemotherapy).

·       Over the age of 50.

·       Who have been ill.

·       Who have experienced trauma.

·       Who are under stress.

Most people who develop shingles have only one episode during their lifetime. However, you can have shingles more than once.

Post-Herpetic Neuralgia

The most common complication of shingles is long-term nerve pain called post herpetic neuralgia.

Post herpetic neuralgia occurs in the areas where the shingles rash was, even after the rash clears up. It can last for months or even years after the rash has gone. The pain from post herpetic neuralgia can be so severe and debilitating that it can interfere with daily life.

More than 10% of people who get shingles will experience post herpetic neuralgia and the risk of developing it increases with age. Researchers don’t know why some people get post herpetic neuralgia and others don’t. It may be that nerves become more sensitive or that the virus may be invading and damaging the central nervous system.

Other complications include:

·       Other types of nerve issues like numbness or itching.

·       A bacterial infection of the shingles rash.

·       Eye and ear inflammation if the rash is near these organs.

Shingles may lead to serious complications involving the eye, including blindness. Very rarely, it can also lead to pneumonia, hearing problems, brain inflammation (encephalitis), or death.

How homeopathy can help:

In conventional medicine it is the disease that is treated, not the patient.  Once a diagnosis is made then a specific medication can be prescribed. For example, an anti-inflammatory is given to treat inflammation or an antibiotic to kill bacteria.  One problem with this disease model approach is that for many diagnosable conditions, no treatment exists.  Shingles is one such condition.

In homeopathy it is the whole person who is affected by disease and therefore it is the whole person who needs to be treated.  This is done by giving a homeopathic remedy to each patient on an individual basis.  In homeopathy the indications for a remedy are neither the disease diagnosis nor the medical condition to be treated.  Instead, the homeopathic indications for any given homeopathic remedy are simply all the signs and symptoms which the patient is experiencing.

The basic idea is that the homeopathic remedy stimulates the natural recuperative processes of the patient towards health.  The disease resolves naturally as the patient recovers.  The disease is not being directly treated and so, for a given disease, there are hundreds of possible remedies which might be indicated.  It depends on the patient.  Likewise, for a given remedy, there are possibly hundreds of diseases in which it might be indicated.  It depends again on the patient. Unlike much in modern medicine, the knowledge in homeopathy does not become outdated over time.  On the contrary, the knowledge of the remedies and how to apply them continues to grow. 

Another problem with the disease model is that treatment for recurring problems does little to prevent future incidents.  Health problems recur due to continued susceptibility in the patient, but the disease approach rarely addresses this susceptibility.  Each recurrence is treated as if it is a new problem resulting in a revolving door experience for the patient with the possibility that nothing will get fully resolved. 

It is possible to have shingles more than once so strengthening the vitality of the individual patient and addressing the susceptibility becomes a very important part of treatment.  Homeopathy is one way to address these issues.

Research:

https://www.cam-quest.org/en/afflictions/skin-diseases/herpes-zoster/homeopathy?exclude_designs=4

Visalli, N.; Pulcri, R.
Homeopathic treatment of 33 patients affected from herpes zoster
LMHI (ed.) : 51st L.M.H.I. International Congress, Proceedings, Capri (Italy), 2nd-6th October 1996, 1996, 324-325 (Symposiumsbeitrag)

https://www.medigraphic.com/cgi-bin/new/resumenI.cgi?IDARTICULO=57403

Perdomo, J.C.F.; Veloz, R.E.
Terapia combinada de homeopatía y Su Jok en pacientes con herpes zóster
Combined therapy of homeopathy and Su Jok in patients with herpes zoster
Medisan, 2015, 19(3), 355-365