Overview of Shingles

• The shingles virus can be spread easily to those who have not
yet contracted chickenpox
• A vaccine is available for those over 60 years of age, in
order to reduce outbreaks in this high-risk group
• Although it is also known as herpes zoster, this virus is not
related to the herpes STD
• Special prevention precautions should be taken for pregnant
women
• Pain from this virus can continue even after the rash has
healed
• Outbreaks may be minimized, if treatment is administered
within 72 hours of the rash appearing

Causes & Complications of Shingles

The cause of shingles is the varicella zoster virus (VZV), and complications from this virus can lead to a variety of problems. The VZV virus is in the herpes family, and functions as its own antidote once the body has experienced it. For instance, once a person has had the chickenpox, VZV remains in the nervous system and is never completely purged. Although dormant, it still resides in the body.

Shingles itself manifests as a rash, combined with a series of skin lesions that erupt from that rash. A common complication with shingles is that it may be activated again in response to other issues in the body. Unlike chickenpox, people do not necessarily experience a shingles outbreak only once. Stress, AIDS or other immune disorders, and even cancer treatments can trigger the rash and contagion to resurface.

The vaccine created to prevent the rash from resurfacing is vital, since the majority of occurrences are in those over 60. Furthermore, anyone who has had chickenpox is at risk for shingles. Statistics show that approximately 1,000,000 instances of shingles occur annually in the United States.

Signs & Symptoms of Shingles

Shingles eruptions set themselves apart from chickenpox due to the discomfort that can even precede the obvious rash and skin lesions. Burning and sensitive skin can occur up to a week prior to any visible signs of a breakout, and this pain can become severe. Of course, the lack of outward signs and evidence can make the quest for an accurate diagnosis very difficult.

The rash itself arises as tiny blisters on a red foundation. Since VZV is a neurological virus, the blisters track nerve patterns that spread away from the spinal cord. Blisters will continue to appear and expand for 3 to 5 days. The virus maintains its contagious state while the blisters, and any related oozing, remain present.

3 to 4 weeks may pass before all affected areas have crusted over and begun to heal. During this time, anyone who has not previously been exposed to chickenpox may contract it, regardless of their age. Once someone has experienced the chickenpox, they will not develop shingles as a result of being exposed to someone else’s shingles outbreak. Shingles only arises as a trigger from within your own body.

Herpes Zoster

It is important to clarify the use of the term “herpes” in this context. Herpes zoster is not the same as the variety of genital herpes viruses that are typically sexually transmitted. Zoster is medically transmitted.

Primarily dermal, zoster is understood to be a neurological disorder that stems from the varicella zoster virus (VZV). Varicella happens to be the virus that causes chickenpox. The state of the immune system thus determines which aspect of VZV will be activated, and how it will appear outwardly.

It is theorized that when immunity plunges below an effective cellular level, viral invasion cannot be prevented. Consequently, this allows zoster to manifest as shingles. This also explains why the predominant number of cases occur in adults over 60 whose immune systems can be easily compromised.

Concerns During Pregnancy

Those who were never previously exposed to chickenpox must take additional precautions to avoid exposure during pregnancy. Crowds, grammar schools, and other settings where the highly contagious varicella zoster virus may be present, become especially dangerous during these 9 months. Of course, those who have experienced the course of chickenpox will not catch shingles from someone with an inflamed rash.

Enduring a chickenpox infection while pregnant can cause it to be passed along to the infant, and may even lead to birth defects in the child. Although a shingles outbreak can be dangerous to the unborn baby as well, the potential damage is typically not as severe. One study actually demonstrated no risk or harm to the fetus when the mother experienced a shingles flare-up.

Anyone unaware, or unsure, of having contracted chickenpox prior to a pregnancy can be tested. This blood test will reveal the presence or absence of VZV antibodies. Antibodies indicate that course of chickenpox has already been experienced. As a result, contracting the virus through a contagious exposure to shingles would be impossible during the pregnancy.

Minimizing Problematic Outbreaks

After chickenpox runs its course, typically in children and young people, the virus remains present in that body. This latent and temporarily asymptomatic residue can either remain immobile, or travel through nerve clusters, for years or decades without erupting.

While zoster outbreaks typically range between 1 and 3 out of 1,000 healthy individuals, incidents more than triple in senior citizens who are 65 or older. Logically, these incidents increase in activity for age groups that are prone to compromised immunity. Certainly, this fact was the impetus behind creating the vaccine that was designed to prevent such eruptions.

When prevention efforts fail, steroid and anti-virus treatment programs can be administered to minimize the pain and hasten the dermal healing. This is important not only because the healing process slows significantly as we age, but also because the pain related to the rash areas can be present even after the rash has physically healed. The only caveat to the effectiveness of this treatment program is that it must be administered within 48 to 72 hours of the rash appearing. Once initiated, the course of this shingles treatment then continues for 7 to 10 days.

Symptoms Of Pityriasis Rosea

The pityriasis rosea rash begins as a large, scaly, raised spot on the trunk of the body that lasts for around 2 weeks.  Called the mother or Herald patch, the color of this spot varies with the patients skin color.  In people with fair to medium skin, it appears pink or red.  In darker skinned people, the rash is violet, dark gray or black.  A week or two after the mother patch appears oval-shaped daughter patches start to pop up on other parts of the body.  These are the same color as the mother patch, but they are smaller.  Daughter patches most commonly appear on the back, chest, abdomen, arms and legs.

Some pityriasis rosea sufferers have no signs other than the skin rash, but other patients do report additional physical symptoms.  Some sufferers experience the signs of a cold just before the rash develops.  These include headache, slight fever, nasal congestion and sore throat.  Once the rash appears, about half of those with pityriasis rosea report itchy skin.  The itch tends to occur more often when the skin is heated, such as when patients take warm baths, perform vigorous physical activity or spend time in the sun.

Causes Of Pityriasis Rosea

Doctors are not sure what causes pityriasis rosea.  The current theory is that disease is caused by a virus, possibly a strain of the human herpes virus.  There is no evidence that the rash is contagious.

Diagnosis Of Pityriasis Rosea

In many cases, a dermatologist can diagnose the condition on the appearance of the rash alone.  However, in the early stages, doctors may need to do other tests to confirm that the rash is caused by pityriasis rosea instead of another similar-looking condition, such as Lyme disease, psoriasis, ringworm or secondary syphilis.  Some common tests to rule out these conditions include blood work and a biopsy of the rash.

Treatment Of Pityriasis Rosea

This condition usually does not require any special treatment.  The rash typically disappears on its own in 4 to 6 weeks.  To reduce itching, doctors advise sufferers to bathe or shower in lukewarm water, take oatmeal baths and apply calamine lotion or zinc oxide cream to the rash.  In cases where the rash does not go away after 8 weeks, the itching is very severe or where the patient is pregnant, more intense treatment or monitoring may be necessary.

Doctors can use antiviral drugs or light therapy to lessen the duration of the pityriasis rosea rash, and they can prescribe other medications to help with itching.  Drugs such as Acyclovir and Famciclovir will not cure the rash, but they can hasten recovery by up to 2 weeks.  Light therapy with UVB light or sunlight can also lessen the duration of the rash but can cause persistent dark spots on the skin.  If severe itching is a problem, a doctor may prescribe steroid creams or oral antihistamines to provide relief of pityriasis rosea.

The Triggers of Couperose

There are many reasons that could cause your capillaries and blood vessels to dilate. Some of these triggers include alcohol and cigarettes, hot drinks and spicy food and other reasons like sun exposure, high temperatures or even stress. So naturally you should try to avoid or minimize your exposure to these possible triggers and definitely do not attempt to be in an environment where you have to combine two or more of the these triggers. In general you must try to avoid anything that will exacerbate the symptoms, which leads us to the next topic.

The Symptoms of Couperose

There are actually two main symptoms that you can experience with Couperose that I want to talk about. The first of them being the apparent redness you have on your skin. This of course like I mentioned earlier is due to your dilated capillaries and blood vessels that can even break at times. Their location under your skin will create an obvious red look that will be most noticeable on your nose and cheeks. The other symptom of Couperose is usually the dryness and sensitivity  of your skin. This can be very irritating, especially in the case of dry skin where it is more prone to breaking and causing some pain in that area. The pain in those cases are caused by the tightness of the skin and in some cases a burning feeling that can cause you some discomfort.

Remedies for Couperose

The first thing you can do is get a good cleanser that will help you reduce any burning feeling that you might be getting. It’s best to look for a cleanser that mentions that it can be used for that purpose on its packaging. The second thing to do would be trying to reduce the dryness that you’re experiencing and this can be done  by getting a moisturizer. Get yourself a quality moisturizer and keep applying it to your skin regularly and especially to the spots where your skin feels the most dry. The last thing you can also look for is treatments specifically designed for Couperose, in which case you can ask your doctor or dermatologist. This might be more expensive but probably most effective in targeting the specific symptoms that you might have if you are suffering from this condition. These methods, combined with the avoidance of triggers will help you significantly in soothing the symptoms and eventually eradicate couperose.