The pain that is caused after a shingles attack is hard to get rid of.  There is no easy answer to how you can get rid of shingles pain, however knowing what is causing the pain and how shingles works can afford you an opportunity to better prepare yourself for the aftermath of a shingles attack.

Shingles is a disease that is often times dormant in your system if you have had chicken pox.  It is caused by the herpes zoster virus and often times people can carry this virus for their entire life and not have any problems from it.  When the herpes zoster virus becomes active in the nerves, this is when it becomes shingles.

While there is no “cure” for shingles, you can often find yourself trying to find ways to deal with the shingles pain, both during a shingles outbreak and afterwards.   The pain from shingles can be excruciating and difficult to deal with.   When the pain begins, it is usually localized to a certain part of the body.  Sometimes the pain will begin before your shingles rash even appears.

Shingles pain can sometimes be helped by taking an anti-inflammatory medicine such as ibuprofen.  Sometimes dealing with shingles pain requires a heavier dose of medication such as a narcotic pain reliever in extreme circumstances.  Since shingles affects the nerves, certain anti-depressants or anti-seizure medications have shown some help with the shingles pain relief.

One of the best ways to deal with shingles pain is if you feel like you are beginning another outbreak of shingles, get to your doctor as soon as you can and they can often times prescribe certain medications that can help lessen the affects of the shingles outbreak.

Pain Before the Rashes

Contrary to popular belief, shingles is not signaled by just the outbreak of rashes. The first real sign of shingles is shingles pain. The reason why shingles pain occurs first before the rashes is that damage to the nerves happens first.

The virus which causes chicken pox usually gets stored in a nerve near the spinal cord once an individual recuperates from chicken pox. When the virus is reactivated, it can cause the nerve to become inflamed which is the initial cause of shingles pain. As the virus travels to the skin and becomes obvious as rashes, the pain may begin to worsen. The degree and constancy of the pain however varies from one individual to another.

Post Herpetic Neuralgia (PHN)

In a handful of people who have shingles, the shingles pain may persist even after the shingles rashes disappear. This is a condition known as post herpetic neuralgia. It is believed that the initial swelling of the nerve may result in the nerve defensively releasing substance P which is the known signal for pain. People with severe shingles may have severely damaged nerves, thus resulting in chronic shingles pain known as post herpetic neuralgia.

Age and PHN

It is an accepted fact that older people have higher chances of suffering from shingles than younger people. This is because older individuals have weaker immune systems due to the natural aging of their bodies’ systems. There is also a possibility that older people with shingles as well as those who have low stress tolerance have a greater chance of suffering from postherpetic neuralgia. The reasons for this are unclear but it is possible that PHN is also still linked with the body’s level of immunity and capacity for self healing.

Treatment of PHN

Just like shingles, there is no clear cure for shingles pain that has progressed to PHN. It is possible though to ease this chronic shingles pain and possibly even prevent it. Some suggest that early shingles treatment can reduce the possibility of developing PHN.

Shingles treatment may include anti viral medications and pain relievers. For those who already have PHN, doctors may prescribe a number of medications which include antidepressants, lidocaine patches, anticonvulsants and opioids. Further studies are needed to determine how exactly antidepressants work to prevent or ease shingles pain.

Radiation Therapy

There is a possibility that radiation may be able to relieve PHN. A study conducted for more than two decades showed that people who were given small doses of radiation on the affected nerves experienced relief from PHN. Some participants even experienced more relief from radiation doses than from the usual shingles medications. It is believed that radiation can prevent both inflammation and the increase of the virus. The use of radiation however almost always carries some risks.