I can still remember the smell of the oatmeal baths I had to take when I had chickenpox as a child. Soon my brother, then my sister, had to soak in the oat filled tub in order to help soothe the itchy blisters from the contagious varicella zoster virus. Do you remember these small blisters, chickenpox, showing up all over your body? I still have a couple of scars where I couldn’t stop scratching.
Round One: Chickenpox, Round Two: Shingles
To “add salt to the wound” after recovering, this particular virus then remains dormant in the nervous system and can possibly reappear decades later. It hides out in nerve tissues by the spinal cord and brain and can then show up later in life. If it does, it is typically after age 50, and will affect the course of the inhabited nerve. This is called herpes zoster, or shingles, and presents as another type of rash. However, this time there is shooting pain. It initially feels more like a tingling on the skin level before the rash appears. Great, something to possibly look forward to for those of us exposed to the varicella zoster virus earlier in life.
I don’t mean to cause any panic, but 1 in 3 of us do experience shingles. If you haven’t dealt with it yourself, you’ve probably heard a friend or family member describe their case of shingles. The rash usually shows up on one side of the body, and becomes red, fluid-filled blisters. It may be found on the face, neck, chest, upper back, or abdomen. This is because the virus has “awoken” and traveled along the nerve fibers to the skin. Typically the blisters dry out and become crusty within a week or two. The pain that comes along with the nerve being irritated can be mild to severe. And, in some cases, it can last after the rash is gone and then called post-herpetic neuralgia. The goal of treatment is to ensure the virus persists for only a short amount of time and the nerve recovers without residual pain.
Why does this dormant virus suddenly show up years after getting the chickenpox? This is not clearly known, but the suspicion has to do with the immune system somehow being compromised. This could be from being overly stressed or exhausted, especially for extended time. It could be from another condition that affects one’s immunity or from getting chemotherapy or radiation treatment. Shingles may show up simply during one’s later process of aging. The antiviral medications seem most effective at healing the infection and reducing complications if administered within three days of the start of the rash. Various pain killers may be offered as well. Also, it may be recommended to get back into that oatmeal bath, like the one my mom made for me.
Seek Care Quickly for More Effective Treatment Results
In my practice of acupuncture and Chinese Medicine, I occasionally see people with shingles. Three research studies in 2018 showed that acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine prove to be effective for the treatment of this condition. Again, the sooner treatment is sought when noticing the first signs of symptoms, the more effective the treatment seems to be. Hence, a take-home message here is: if you feel unusual tingling somewhere on your body and then notice the appearance of a rash, don’t hesitate to seek care. It may or may not be shingles, but the sooner you seek care, the better outcome is to be expected.
Chinese Medicine treats specifically based on how the individual presents with shingles. Various acupuncture points are used and a specific herbal formula is chosen depending on how this particular person is experiencing the effects of the virus. Where on the body the rash shows up, what the blisters are like, the severity of the itching and the quality of pain, all help guide the practitioner’s specific diagnosis and treatment plan. There are antiviral herbs that are used, but the main intention of Chinese medical treatment is to affect the internal environment. This person may have been living with the varicella zoster virus for sixty years without a problem. So the practitioner using the lens of Chinese Medicine is interested in the condition of the body that has allowed the virus to replicate and cause trouble. If the body is in a depleted state, it is not only important to destroy the virus but also to strengthen the body to have a swift and full recovery from this condition.
My experience has been that the combination of the antiviral medication along with acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine makes shingles a less intense experience for those who face it.