I noticed a rash on my temple about a week ago and my eye was hurting pretty bad. I didn’t think much about it, but a few days later it wasn’t getting any better and the pain was still there so I went to my doctor who diagnosed me with shingles. My doctor put me on a antiviral medication and said she hoped it wouldn’t spread, but it did spread to my forehead and in my hair. It’s very painful especially, the headaches. I saw my physician after one week, and she couldn’t believe the shingles spread so much. She put me on three more days of antiviral medications. She was very encouraging to me and said that I had done really well under the circumstances. I still feel awful and the sores are still there, so my questions are: (I forgot to ask my doctor this) how long will these sores stay on my face, will I have scaring and when will I feel like my old self again? I feel weak and the headaches come and go, even though I’m taking naproxen. Thank you.
Having shingles can be painful and dangerous if near or involving your eyes. You should see your eye doctor as well. Healing from shingles can take weeks, but there are treatments and therapies that you can use to try to hasten healing:
- Antiviral treatments
- Pain treatments
- Topical skin treatments
- Dermatological therapies
Prevention is the best medicine and the shingles vaccine should be given to most adults over age 50-60. The shingles vaccine can be taken in the future by someone who has had shingles, as it is possible to suffer with this more than once, unfortunately.
All My Best,
Speaking of Women's Health Nurse
February 27, 2014 at 9:58am