Clear Lake Dermatologists Serve Patients Requiring Shingles Treatment in Webster, League City, Friendswood and Houston, TX
Adults who experienced chickenpox as children can be susceptible to shingles as they grow older. This disease occurs whenever the chickenpox virus becomes active again, thereby causing clusters of blisters to appear as a rash on the skin. These blisters scab over and heal in two to four weeks; however, patients suffer intense pain and itching while the disease is ongoing. People who are affected by shingles need medical attention, and patients near Houston, League City, and the surrounding Bay Area can find help at Clear Lake Dermatology.
Shingles is not contagious; however, patients who have shingles may transmit chickenpox to those who have not previously been exposed. Like chickenpox, shingles normally occurs only once in a lifetime. Shingles is more common among people over 50 who have a weakened immune system. Although chickenpox is a fairly common childhood disease, determining who might develop shingles as adults and who may never experience an outbreak of shingles is impossible.
Many times, our doctors are able to diagnose shingles simply by looking at the blisters. Other times, the rash may resemble other disorders, so a skin test is needed to confirm a diagnosis. One of the common tests checks for the presence of the herpes simplex virus, as the virus that causes chickenpox and shingles is related to this family of viruses; however, shingles is not considered a sexually transmitted disease.
Antiviral medications are often used to treat shingles, and patients who seek treatment early normally recover sooner than those who wait to receive care. When left untreated, shingles can also cause a condition known as postherpetic neuralgia, which is essentially long-term nerve damage. When rashes occur near the eyes, shingles also has the potential to create a permanent loss of vision, as well.
Those who show signs of shingles should seek medical attention even if they do not remember having chickenpox as a child. The sooner treatment is started, the faster the recovery.