Shingles
Herpes Zopster
Most of
us have had chicken pox in our lives. Shingles are
caused from the same virus, Varicella zoster, also
known as herpes zoster. Once you’ve had chicken pox,
this virus may lie dormant in your body until a
serious illness, emotional trauma, or prolonged
stress weakens your immune system. Each year,
850,000 Americans are diagnosed with shingles.
The first sign of shingles may be chills or fever,
followed by an eruption of tiny blisters that may be
extremely painful and sensitive to the touch so that
something as light as a bedsheet may feel unbearable
to the skin. These blisters form crusty scabs that
look like roof shingles and eventually fall off. For
some, this is the end of the bout, but for about 20
percent of all patients, the pain travels through
the nerves. This condition is called post-zoster
pain, a quite painful condition that can continue
for a long time, especially in those with immune
deficiencies.
We have seen patients with severe pain spreading
across their ribs, back, and belly experience great
relief from acupuncture treatment. If you have
shingles and visit an acupuncturist, expect the
practitioner to use needle or electro-needle
acupuncture around the nerves that are inflamed. So
if he or she begins in the back and follow the ribs
around to your chest, you’ll have a lovely pattern
of acupuncture needles following the nerve pathways.
In our experience you can expect to feel some relief
after a couple treatments with a cumulative effect
as more sessions are given. Home care is limited for
this condition outside of herbal medicine and
bio-magnetic treatments that reinforce your acupro’s
sessions.
For people with immune deficiencies, post-zoster
pain can be severely painful. There is no known cure
for this condition, and I believe that acupuncture
offers real solutions for a pain that definitely
gets under your skin.
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