SHINGLES ON MY FACE.

[Rubyray]

Has anyone had an experience with shingles on their face? I have been dealing with it for a couple of years. The sores are gone but the nerves in my face are highly sensitive. Even the nerves on my gums and teeth on that side of my face. I use triamcinolone acetonide on my face which helps a little but it never goes away.

[Hidden]

I had what I think was ocular shingles, so technically in my eye, that's what the doctor called it, but in fact is was over one half of my scalp and heading for my left eye. Because she diagnosed and acted very quickly, it didn't reach my eye. If it had I'd have been in real trouble I'm told by someone where it did reach his eye. His case became very serious.

I was put on the maximum dose of an anti-viral (can't remember the name, but doctor will know the one). It worked in about a week, maybe a little longer.

I was also told to stay away from other people till it cleared up because I could give someone a serious problem. I THINK pregnant or young women, ones that hadn't had chicken pox I recall. Again can't remember details except that I had to stay at home.

Hope you get cleared soon.

[Rubyray in reply to Hidden]

Thank you.

[Hidden]

This advice is from the UK NHS site.

nhs.uk/conditions/post-herp...

[Rubyray in reply to Hidden]

Thank you.

[Purpletara]

Hi rubyray, I know what you are going through. I had facial and scalp shingles about 10 years ago and it’s a right pain, literally! Every time I’m under the weather it flares up and I get tingling and facial pain. Nothing I can do about it apart from taking painkillers which take the edge off, and yes, the gums and teeth react as well! Sorry I can’t say anything positive. It’s just another of those things that are sent to try us!

Take care and best wishes.

[Rubyray in reply to Purpletara]

Thank you for those words of understanding. I am learning to live with the problem, but sometimes it is hard.

[jennydog]

I had shingles on my head some years ago, 4 months after my sons had chicken pox.

There was NO RASH. The main problem was severe ear ache in my right ear although there was nothing to see. I had never had ear ache previously.

My GP prescribed anti viral medication. He was worried about eye damage as blindness may result.

I was left with some pain and itchiness in the rear of my neck. My GP said that Herpes simplex causes nerve damage. It was years before the problem faded.

[reinaway in reply to jennydog]

Its Herpes Zostra virus that causes shingles. A horrible illness, I had it all down my back and thigh and the pain went on forever. Even now 15 years later I still get nerve pain down my thigh.

[Rubyray in reply to reinaway]

Thanks for telling your stories. Believe it or not, I don't feel so isolated now. I have lost some hearing in my left ear due to shingles and need to wear hearing aids now. I have had pain and nerve damage for over 2 years now.

[Mouchkin]

I had it in my face and head...also across my eye but not in it. The nerve pain,like an electric shock lasted several years but gradually faded. The worst part for me was getting ME ...CFS afterwards. I was exhausted for months and have never bounced back properly. I was very stressed before I had it (I worked in the NHS) Actually I have got my strength back more because I have retired.

Several of my friends have had it and have bounced back ..we are all different.

I do hope you soon recover and that the pain will ease

[Rubyray in reply to Mouchkin]

Thank you for sharing your story. Hopefully we will all see improvement in our shingle ravaged areas on our bodies. I hope for a cure. I was treated in the hospital a couple of years ago by a infectious disease doctor who said I had erysipelas. So I was not treated for shingles when it first happened, and so did not have the medicine that might have helped lighten the disease.

[canadiananna]

I had shingles on my scalp 8 years ago., thankfully it was on the top of my head and down one side but at the back, so my ear or eye was not in danger. I was misdiagnosed at my first appointment and therefore did not get on the appropriate medication quickly enough - it was a miserable, very painful, several weeks before it cleared up. I am like all the others here and have residual nerve irritation (painful sometimes and itchy at others) - it is there more especially if I get overtired - or if I am out in hot sun without a hat. I do not think there is much that can be done. Another grin & bear it situation!

[philologus]

Don't take this as Gospel please, but I read recently that near infrared light at 1070nm wavelength can kill viruses.

It is currently being used experimentally on dementia patients as there is some evidence that dementia is virus-linked.

There is/was a small device retailed by Boots that kills the virus that causes cold sores.

I realise that it's not the same virus but the idea that infrared light (at the right wavelength) might work could be worth looking into.

George

[Rubyray in reply to philologus]

I will look into this. Thank you.

[dandelioness]

We use a homeopathic called Herpes Zoster for shingles, but the real indicator is where it is manifesting. When it is on the face, according to the research of

German New Medicine, it is that someone has attacked your reputation, like

slapping you across the face, with stories made up about you, or even true facts.

The shame can cause this to appear on the facial area. If it appears in the genital area, it can mean that someone put up down in that subject. We suggest you

forgive deeply the persons that do these harmful things, and we have had people clear up with no problem.!

[philologus]

Rubyray:

Here's an article to get you started.

It's not specifically about your problem but it should give you enough information to decide if you want to look deeper.

todaysgeriatricmedicine.com...

[Ppiman]

Bad luck, eh? Life becomes a trial at times, that's for sure.

I wonder if your GP prescribed zovirax straight away? Its chances of success are very high if taken when the very first sense of tingling arises, but diminishes greatly as the virus takes hold inside the nerve cells.

I had shingles below my left ribs twenty odd years ago and my GP told me, "You're a healthy young man - you'll be fine". Four days later, with a very high fever, I had to see him (he wouldn't come out...), and he called in his colleagues and photographed me as said he'd never seen such a bad attack. After consulting with the local hospital, I was given zovirax and - lucky for me it seems - it worked within days. The rash cleared up, leaving a few scars to this day, but with - thankfully - no after effects of nerve pain.

My mother-in-law had the same as you, however, but her GP misdiagnosed her illness and prescribed steroid drops for her eye. These are completely contraindicated in viral infections and the result was a disaster: she had a flare up of the shingles and, eventually, scarring on her eye with complete loss of vision on one side.

[Rubyray in reply to Ppiman]

Thanks for sharing. I was also misdiagnosed when in the hospital with it. Not given proper medication.

[Ppiman in reply to Rubyray]

I’m not a believer in suing people, but in my mother in-law’s case, the doctor should have paid in some way for his tragic error of judgment. The hospital doctor was shocked at what he’d done.

[irene75359]

You have my sympathy. I suffer exactly the same symptoms when developing a cold sore, my eyes 'ache' and are super-sensitive, and the side of my face. But I only have this for a day or two, not all the time. I'm sorry I don't know of anything that helps.

[Rubyray in reply to irene75359]

Thanks for your empathy. We just learn to cope with the pain.