Dermatologist - Getting The Right Information About Shingles

Shingles is one skin condition that a lot of people may not have heard too much about. On the other hand, a lot of people have heard about chicken pox. Just so you know, these two are caused by the same virus.

From the above, we can also see that shingles and chicken pox are both viral infections. If you know anything about viral infections then you would know that they are very difficult to eradicate. In fact, in many cases they cannot be totally eradicated.

Most of us have heard that once you have had chicken pox, you can no more have it. What we may however not know is that the virus is never totally eradicated. It only becomes dormant and stay in that state in the spine. If as a result of an illness or infection the body's immune system gets weak or compromised, then the virus could become active. When this happens, it results in a case of shingles.

In most cases, shingles starts with considerable pain on the side of the body where the outbreak would show. It could appear first as tiny rashes that could be mistaken for insect bites. The only thing is that insect bites do not come with as much pain as these would come with.

Some people have heard that shingles usually clears up after about 5 weeks. This makes some people think they should not make any serious effort to have the condition treated. This is something that can be very harmful. Viral infections are better treated within the first 3 days of the outbreak. During this time, it is easier to contain. If an outbreak of shingles is left without treatment, it could result in far more dangerous conditions.

Shingles has been known to cause hearing and sight complications. It can also cause post herpetic neuralgia and even deformity of an unborn child when it affects a pregnant woman.

Despite the fact that viral infections may not have total cure, you can at least control and contain them. Once you find anything on your skin that looks like a rash but comes with a lot of pain, do yourself a favor and consult your dermatologist.

If you have looked at the complications that could arise from a case of shingles that is left without treatment, you would agree that the best thing to do is to consult a dermatologist quickly so the proper treatment can be administered.

Do not take chances, take proper care of your skin.