antiviral medications promptly is important. They help to reduce the severity of postherpetic neuralgia. Unfortunately, plain acetaminophen or ibuprofen are generally not effective for helping to treat post-shingles nerve pain. Stronger opiates, such as codeine or morphine, are needed to treat this severe form of pain.
Most times postherpetic neuralgia requires other options to help treat the pain. One current treatment option is to use medications that can alter your perception of pain. For some unknown reason many drugs that treat epilepsy can also be used to treat pain. These drugs include gabapentin (Neurontin), carbamazepine |
(Tegretol) and Lyrica. The advantage of these drugs is that they can greatly reduce the amount of pain medications needed to feel comfortable. Some older antidepressants are also used for this purpose; amitryptylline and nortryptylline.
Some Peoples Pharmacists are able to compound specialized creams to help treat shingles. Some formulas contain many of the medications listed above. Sometimes they also use a topical anesthetic called lidocaine. Lidocaine tends to numb the top few layers of the skin and can be quite helpful for treating shingles pain.
One last type of topical product contains a plant extract called capsaicin. Capsaicin is extracted from |
hot chili peppers. When applied to the skin in very small amounts, capsaicin is effective in fighting the pain associated with arthritis and the neuralgia (nerve pain) associated with shingles. How capsaicin works is rather unique. After topical application, capsaicin interferes with the actions of substance P. Substance P (SP) is thought to be associated with the transmission and perception of pain from the peripheral nerves. Once capsaicin cream is applied to the skin, it causes a rapid release of SP from the peripheral neurons. This release of SP is associated with a sensation of heat or burning at the site of application. After subse
Ian Lloyd...Continued On Page 8 |
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