Natural Medicine helps Relieve Postherpetic Neuralgia Safely

Postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) is a condition that affects the nerve fibers in the skin. It is the most common complication of shingles and results from damage to nerve fibers during shingles. The rash and pain from shingles usually lasts about a month. But in people with PHN, the pain from shingles may last for months, and sometimes years, after the shingles rash has healed.
The pain from PHN occurs because of damage to the nerve fibers caused by a reactivation of the varicella zoster virus. Nerve fibers send messages from the skin to the brain. When nerve fibers are damaged during an outbreak of shingles, they are not able to send messages as they normally do. The body may perceive these "mixed messages" as pain.
PHN is defined as pain arising or persisting in areas affected by herpes zoster at least three months after the healing of the skin lesions. The early recognition and treatment of herpes zoster prevents viral replication, relieves the acute pain and may reduce the complications of the disease of which PHN is the most feared. However, while it is important to emphasise that treatment may help PHN, there remains a core of patients who are incredibly difficult to treat successfully even in the most optimum circumstances.
The incidence of PHN is between 9 and 14% one month after the herpes zoster eruption. There is a definite tendency for PHN to improve with time and as few as 3% of patients may be left with severe PHN after one year. As many as 40% of patients with PHN will continue to have long-term problems because of incomplete or no pain relief from our best treatments. There is no difference between the incidence in males and females, but the incidence is directly related to age; with PHN becoming much more common and more incapacitating as the patient gets older.
There is no seasonal incidence and the areas affected tend to be on the chest and abdomen and the ophthalmic division of the trigeminal nerve. Study has shown that black patients have a significantly lower risk of developing herpes zoster than whites. There is an increase in the incidence of herpes zoster with lymphoproliferative disorders and severe disease and aggressive treatment seem to increase the likelihood of severe PHN. Herpes zoster seems to be more common in any condition with a change in immune status and is not uncommon in patients with HIV.
Age is a primary risk factor for the development of PHN. Older people are more susceptible to PHN than those who are younger. PHN usually does not develop in people under age 50. However, over 40% of patients with shingles age 60 or older develop PHN. After the shingles rash has healed, 75% of people over age 70 have pain at 1 month, and 50% still have pain at 1 year. During an outbreak of shingles, other risk factors for the development of PHN include: greater pain severity, sensory impairment in the affected skin, painful period before the shingles rash appears, and so on.
Prompt treatment with an oral antiviral medication may reduce the duration of PHN in many people age 50 or older. For many people age 50 or older, prescription oral famciclovir may significantly shorten the duration of PHN, reducing the number of days you have pain. Famciclovir should be started within 72 hours of the first sign of the shingles rash. Treatment started more than 72 hours after the rash has appeared has not been studied.
Prescription oral famciclovir is not for everyone. In some clinical studies with famciclovir, the most common reported side effects included headache, nausea, and diarrhea. If you have kidney problems, your doctor will determine if famciclovir is appropriate and if so, what the right dose is for you. It is thus clear that western medicines cause serious harm to the body at the time of dealing with animal diseases. The toxicity issue of chemical drugs is an increasing concern. Natural medicine can relieve postherpetic neuralgia safely and immediately.
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