A nerve pain caused due to the damage or disease that affects the health of the nervous system of a person. When your nerves have a problem or are damaged, they send pain signals to the central nervous system and you feel the pain. This pain is usually felt as burning, stabbing, shooting, aching, or an electric shock kind of sensation.

Among other reasons such as, diabetes, cancer or cancer treatments, HIV or other STDs, or alcohol or drug abuse, Shingles is also a common cause of nerve pain. When you feel nerve pain, the term that is used to describe the pain is called neuropatic pain or neuralgia.

Shingle, as we all probably know, is cause by the same virus that causes chicken pox and is called Varicella-zoster. After you are infected from chicken-pox and treated, this virus remains in your body and becomes dormant for years in the nerve cells. The same virus awakens when your immune system is weak and due to various other causes, it attacks in the form of shingles also known as herpes zoster. This time, it can be worse than chicken pox and can also cause serious nerve damage. However, it can always be treated avoiding any serious complications.

There are times when people feel nerve pain after shingles has been treated, and hence it is important to be aware of the causes of nerve pain to avoid wrong diagnosis as nerve pain also indicates other health problems such as heart disease, appendicitis, etc.

If nerve pain is adamant, the situation is called postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) and can also be termed as neuropathy. In this case, the nerves have been damaged. Neuropathy is also a common condition and can be treated by treating any of the causes, in this case, shingles.

Medication helps in this case. Taking care of the overall health cures neuropathy and one can also build healthy nerves. You can talk to your doctor and get on a healthy lifestyle including healthy diet and practices to build healthy nerves.

You need to learn about vitamins and nutrition your body needs and follow the diet that gives you all the necessary and important nutrients. Therapies and alternative medicine also helps cure neuropathy. Acupuncture is a part of alternative medicine and can be used to cure this damaged nerve(s) problem.

The process is slow and one must be patient. Taking more stress about the whole situation will increase the chances of delay in the cure/treatment.

Shingles, as you may already know, is a disease that come in the form of an infection. The virus that causes chicken pox causes shingles, while the virus that causes shingles is called Varicella zoster and can infect someone who suffered from chicken pox at a young age. Once a child has recovered from chicken pox, the virus remains in the body and can re-attack at old age when he his body is weak or even before old age.

If you have suffered and come out of chicken pox, you are probably worried about this disease and would like to prevent it before it attacks you. Though this disease is not fatal, it can cause lot of pain for the time you are suffering from it and can even cause nerve pain.

If you have never had chicken pox in your life, you do not have to worry about catching shingles as the virus was never there in your body in the first place. But if you have, probably why you are here, you can prevent yourself from getting shingles.

Before we proceed, you must also know that if you have never had chicken pox, yet you come in contact with someone suffering from shingles, you will not get shingles, but can most definitely get chicken pox, which, in the later stage of your life, can give you shingles.

Here are some prevention methods you can bank upon. Prevention will not make you shingle proof, but will reduce your risk of catching the disease without a doubt.

Vaccine
Consider getting yourself vaccinated by Zostavax vaccine. This vaccine is approved in the market but is recommended for people who have reached or crossed 60 years of age as people above 60 are more prone to shingles.

Avoid people infected from shingles
Whether you have had chicken pox in your life, or not, you must avoid people who are infected with the virus as it may open doors for shingles by giving you chicken pox.

Avoid people who have chicken pox
Chicken pox is highly contagious and is known to be more contagious than shingles. And for the same reason stated above, steer clear from people or kids having chicken pox.

Give importance to your immunity
Most health problems, including shingles, is caused because of weak immune system. The only way to strengthen your immune system is to live a healthy lifestyle by consuming only healthy food and drinks and exercising regularly. You may also visit your family doctor regularly to check your health.

Try to live a stress-free life
Mind is stronger than any medication. Yes, a healthy lifestyle helps you have a healthy mind, but you must try and keep yourself away from stress and be happy as much as you can.

Take hygiene seriously
Most viruses are able to attack us because of our unhygienic surroundings and practices. Wash your hands often and keep your surroundings clean and virus free.

Shingles are painful skin rashes with blisters, which in most cases, develop on one particular side of the body.

Theyare caused by varicella-zoster virus,a type of herpes virus, which is the same virus that causes chickenpox. When you are exposed to this virus, it will initially cause chickenpox. Even after you have fully recovered from chickenpox, the virus lives in your nerve roots forever. However, it becomes dormant and may remain in the same state for years. But, it may reactivate at anytime, and when it reactivates, it takes the form of shingles.

Anyone who has had even a mild case of chicken pox can develop shingles at a later stage. However, this does not mean that everyone who has had chickenpox will develop shingles at some point in their life.

Transmission:

You can contract shingles virus by coming in contact with fluid in shingles blisters on an affected person.

Symptoms:

Initially, you develop flu-like symptoms, which include a headache and general discomfort, although there is no change in body temperature.
Pain and itching in a certain part of the body is experienced. This is the site at which the virus has reactivated.
You may develop a localized rash after one or two days.

Treatment for shingles:

• If you are under the perception that there is a known treatment, shingles doesn’t have a specific cure. The virus will run its course before subsiding to a dormant state. However, medication helps you with heal the pain and recovers rapidly. The chances of complications including postherpetic neuralgia increase, if you do not seek timely medical intervention.
• Antiviral medication is accepted as the standard and effective treatment for shingles. It should be started as soon as you develop a rash. They help to reduce the pain and the duration of shingles.
• Over-the-counter pain medication such as Ibuprofen is usually prescribed to handle the pain.
  Topical antibiotic treatment infection can be applied over the blisters to prevent infection.
• In some individuals, the pain from shingles rash can last for more than a month or a year.
• The condition is called Postherpetic Neuralgia, which occurs as a complication of shingles. The severe pain starts interfering with the routine life of the patient and continuous treatment may be required to overcome this complication.
• Shingles complication can cause severe pain, and the patient may require stronger medication to manage the pain.
• Numbing agents including Lidocaine or Capsaicin, which are available as creams, gels, sprays or skin patches are prescribed to control the pain after the blisters have subsided.
• Some patients may require anti-depressants to overcome the long-term effects of the disease on their life.

A shingles outbreak can last anywhere between two to six weeks. Although most people develop shingles only once in their lifetime, there are cases where people have developed shingles a second or third time.

Shingles is a contagious disease caused by the virus varicella-zoster. This virus is the cause for chickenpox as well. Once someone has had the chickenpox infection, the virus remains dormant in the body and can reactivate years later to cause shingles. This virus is a part of herpes group of viruses. This is the reason shingles is also called herpes zoster.

There are many shingles medicines available in the market to reduce the severity of the symptoms. But there is no cure for this disease.

Causes

• Shingles occurs when the varicella-zoster virus reactivates in the body and begins to multiply. There is no clear reason known for it. But doctors believe that poor immunity can prompt the virus to become active again.
• Shingles is more common in people over the age of 50. With age, the immune system becomes weak and can cause the virus to reactivate.
• People of any age group with HIV/AIDS can get shingles as they have poor immunity.
• Certain medications like chemotherapy drugs or immuno suppressive drugs (given after organ transplants) can also trigger shingles. Extended use of steroids can also increase a person’s (someone who has had chickenpox) chances of getting shingles.
• Pregnant women can infect their newborns if they get chickenpox or shingles during pregnancy.
• Any kind of stress can weaken the immune system and become a risk factor for shingles.

Symptoms

• Shingles symptoms are very distinct and usually occur in stages.
• The most common or the first symptom of shingles is a burning or tingling sensation, a dull pain or constant stabbing pain in a specific area of the body. It usually occurs on one side of the torso, neck, face or near the eyes. But it can appear on any part of the body. The characteristic shingles symptom is a rash that appears as a stripe or band across the torso.
• Within a few days of the pain, a rash can come up on the infected area. The first appearance of the rash is usually in the form of a red blotches. These blotches quickly form into blisters with fluids.
• Within a week or two, blisters dry up and form crusts. But up to this point, new blisters can continue to develop.

Uncommon symptoms of shingles:

• Fever
• Fatigue
• Headache
• Muscle pain
• Joint pain
• Sensitivity to light
• Nausea
• Swelling in the lymph nodes
• Upset stomach
• Inflammation in the brain and pneumonia (rare)
• Treatment

There is no cure or treatment to prevent shingles. But with the help of shingles medicines, you can reduce the severity of symptoms. Shingles vaccine now exists for people over the age of 60. Your doctor can recommend one for you if needed.

Doctors usually prescribe antiviral drugs to stop the shingles virus from multiplying any further.
To ease the pain, your doctor can recommend using a capsaicin cream on the affected area.
Calamine lotion can also be helpful in providing some relief from itching.