The Treatment for Postherpetic Neuralgia

Postherpetic neuralgia, a painful complication of shingles, affects your nerve fibers and skin. Even after you recover from chicken pox, the virus remains dormant in your body inside nerve cells. Years later, the virus can emerge and cause shingles. Shingles causes a rash, open sores and blisters that normally heal in a month. Some people still experience pain after the sores have healed. This pain is called postherpetic neuralgia.

Symptoms

• Symptoms or postherpetic neuralgia include sharp, jabbing, burning aches and pains. Sensitivity to temperature change and touch may occur along with itching, numbness and headaches. If the nerves involved also control muscle movement, you might experience muscle weakness or paralysis.

Treatment

• Corticosteroids may be injected into the spine to help ease the persistent pain of postherpetic neuralgia. Pain killers such as Ultram or OxyContin may be prescribed for short-term treatment of pain. These pain killers are narcotics and can be addictive. Anticonvulsants, such as Lyrica, stabilize abnormal electrical activity in your nervous system and can help offset pain from postherpetic neuralgia. Antidepressants such as Cymbalta affect brain chemicals by blocking pain signals to the brain. Antidepressants used for pain, such as Tofranil and Elavil, are normally prescribed in lower doses. Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, also called TENS, involves placement of electrodes over the affected area. Electrical impulses are delivered to nerve pathways to alleviate pain. You turn the TENS unit on and off as needed. Lidocaine skin patches are applied to affected skin to provide temporary pain relief.