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Shingles is caused by the Varicella Zoster virus, which has the ability to survive and localize for many years in the sensory ganglia in people with a history of childhood chickenpox and then reactivate to cause disease. zona. Shingles needs to be treated promptly to avoid complications or scarring.1. How long does shingles go away?
Shingles has an incubation period of 2-3 days. After that, the patient will have a fever and other symptoms, about 1-2 days later will appear tiny blisters on the skin.
Blisters appear on the red, irritated skin like a burn at first, hard to break, the next day it's thinner and easier to break. This process lasts an average of 2-4 weeks, then the blisters are broken, dry, scaly and heal on their own if there is no superinfection. In case of superinfection of shingles, the blisters will become infected, fester and fever and shingles can spread to other areas of the body and cause systemic symptoms that are dangerous to the patient's life.
So how long does shingles go away? The recovery time depends on the care regimen and resistance of each person. Shingles usually lasts 3 to 5 weeks, but in some cases it can last up to 3 months.
If shingles care is not good, the duration of shingles can be longer and can cause dangerous systemic complications. If the case of shingles in the eye can cause complications of reduced vision and more serious blindness in the patient. Or prolonged shingles will cause a heavy nuisance to daily activities and affect the quality of life of the sufferer. Therefore, when shingles symptoms appear for more than 3 months or there is no sign of improvement after a period of treatment, please notify your doctor for appropriate treatment.
To diagnose shingles, the doctor may ask the patient to perform a number of laboratory tests and preventive treatment to accurately diagnose the disease.
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2. Shingles and how to treat it
How is shingles treated? Currently, there is no specific treatment for shingles. In many cases, it may be necessary to combine different treatments to treat the disease.
Topical analgesics (analgesic patches or topical analgesics) in combination with systemic analgesics, tricyclic antidepressants, anticonvulsants, opiate analgesics. .. Method of hydro-acupuncture with drugs that enhance nutrition, fortify nerves. Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation method; injection of a nerve blocker. Shingles usually precedes the rash. The risk of developing postherpetic neuralgia is halved if antiviral medication is started within 72 hours of the appearance of the shingles rash.
3. Signs that shingles is about to heal
Signs that shingles is about to heal is that these blisters merge into blisters containing clear fluid, then turn cloudy, break off, dry up, and crust over. Normally, from 1-3 weeks, shingles lesions will heal except for cases of superinfection, after healing, leaving a depigmented scar on the patient's skin surface. Complications of pain after shingles are common in the elderly.
If you have unusual symptoms, you should be examined and consulted with a specialist.
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