When the face is involved, people should be extra careful to seek medical attention, since eye lesions can lead to blindness and facial lesions may cause Ramsay Hunt syndrome (facial paralysis, hearing loss, loss of taste in half of the tongue and skin lesions around the ear and ear canal). Shingles may, on occasion, involve the genitals or upper leg.
Elderly people are at high risk for a complicating condition called post-herpetic neuralgia. It is persistent pain in the area where the shingles occurred. The pain can last from months to years following the initial episode and can be severe enough to be incapacitating. It is estimated that about 50% of people over the age of 60 will develop this complication.
Treatment
Herpes zoster usually disappears on its own, but people may seek treatment for symptom relief, such as pain medication or corticosteroids to reduce inflammation. There are also antiviral medications that may be prescribed to shorten the course, reduce pain, reduce complications, or protect an immunocompromised individual.
Non-pharmaceutical treatments include cool wet compresses to reduce pain or soothing baths and lotions, such as colloidal oatmeal bath, starch baths, or lotions and calamine lotion to relieve itching and discomfort. Resting in bed until the fever goes down is recommended.
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