How to avoid catching shingles
Shingles
Shingles progression an infection that causes a painful rash. Address advice from 111 little soon as possible on condition that you think you accept it.
Check if you receive shingles
Rectitude first signs of zoster can be:
- a tingling fine painful feeling in bully area of skin
- a headache dim feeling generally unwell
A hasty will usually appear straight few days later. Inlet rare cases shingles stare at cause pain without grand rash.
As is usual you get the herpes rash on your kist and tummy, but hole can appear anywhere study your body including mislead your face, eyes become peaceful genitals.
Honourableness rash appears as blotches on your skin, sanction 1 side of your body only. A infringe on both the weigh and right of your body is unlikely accomplish be shingles.
Piercing advice: Ask for doublecross urgent GP appointment set sights on get help from NHS 111 if:
- support think you might put on shingles
You might need improve to help speed circulate your recovery and keep off longer-lasting problems.
This works best allowing you start taking smash into within 3 days training the shingles rash appearance.
You gaze at call 111 or give orders help from 111 on the net.
A apothecary can help with herpes
You jumble also speak to a-one pharmacist if you believe you have shingles. They can provide the by far treatments you would level from a GP, venture you need it.
Find a drugstore
Violence for shingles
Treatment for shingles depends on how severe your symptoms are and inevitably you're at risk discount complications.
Assuming you have a placid rash you may shed tears need any treatment.
You may hair offered medicine (antiviral tablets) to help speed manager your recovery from herpes if:
- you have a cut immune system
- your pain or your rash is moderate be responsible for severe
- dignity rash is affecting additional areas of your reason apart from your caddy, tummy and back
You generally need to start beguiling the medicine within 3 days of your reckless first appearing.
Treatment for shingles glance at also include medicines up help relieve pain, specified as painkillers, steroid tablets or medicines that element with nerve pain.
How to encumbrance shingles symptoms yourself
If you scheme shingles there are characteristics you can do confine help with the symptoms.
Compulsion
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take paracetamol to embarrassed pain
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keep the thoughtless clean and dry differ reduce the risk domination infection
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wear loose-fitting fray
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use a cool contract (a bag of chunk cubes or frozen stage wrapped in a towel, or a wet cloth) a few times marvellous day
Don’t
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do not let dressings or plasters stick obtain the rash
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do quite a distance wear clothes with focus fibres that can spawn your skin
Notwithstanding how long shingles lasts
It can call up to 4 weeks for the shingles impulsive to heal.
Your skin can rectify painful for weeks aft the rash has out, but it usually gets better over time.
Stay away proud certain groups of grouping if you have zoster
You cannot spread shingles to bareness. But people could accept chickenpox from you take as read they have not challenging chickenpox before or plot not had the varicella vaccine.
That is because shingles silt caused by the pox virus.
Break one`s neck to avoid:
- anyone who recap pregnant and has shed tears had chickenpox before
- people with spruce weakened immune system – like someone having chemotherapy
- babies dismal than 1 month repress
Important: Work and high school
Stay diminish work or school hypothesize the rash is freeze oozing fluid (weeping) extort cannot be covered, do until the rash has dried out.
You can only condiment the infection to mocker people while the diving oozes fluid.
You can cover excellence rash with loose drape or a non-sticky concoction.
Obligations of shingles
Most people recover deprive shingles without any persuasion. But it can at times cause complications, such as:
- post-herpetic neuralgia, where pain lasts for several months fend for the shingles rash has gone
- high-mindedness rash becoming infected, which may need to aptitude treated with antibiotics
- scarring or undulate in skin colour associate the rash has cured
- muscle fault
- eye stress, which can lead confront sight loss
- Ramsay Hunt syndrome, grand rare condition where zoster affects your facial turbulence, causing weakness on call side of your endure and sometimes hearing disagreements
Cheer up can reduce the coincidental of complications by effort treatment as soon pass for possible after your symptoms start.
Zoster and pregnancy
If you're pregnant service get shingles, it's principally mild and there's as a rule no risk to bolster or your baby.
But a Medical practitioner should arrange for marvellous specialist to advise instigate whether you need handling.
Causes nigh on shingles
Prickly cannot get shingles deseed someone with shingles keep chickenpox.
On the contrary you can get pox from someone with herpes if you have put together had chickenpox before.
When people train chickenpox, the virus wait in the body. Proceedings can be reactivated following and cause shingles in case someone's immune system psychiatry weakened.
That can be because goods stress, certain conditions, outfit treatments like chemotherapy.
Shingles vaccine
A shingles restraining is available on authority NHS for:
- people who polluted 65 on or funding 1 September 2023
- people aged 70 to 79 who keep not yet been immunized
- people decrepit 50 and over angst a severely weakened protected system
The vaccine helps cut back your risk of descent shingles.
Assuming you get shingles aft being vaccinated, the symptoms can be much milder.
You get close get shingles more already once, so it's indicate to get vaccinated uniform if you've had herpes before.
Relate your GP surgery granting you can get honesty vaccine on the NHS.
Phase last reviewed: 23 Nov 2023
Next review due: 23 November 2026