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How To Overcome The Pain In Cheek Caused From Shingles?
my wife suffers severe pain in her cheek. an after affect of shingles that started in november 2012. in the beginning the pain was severe enough that she considered suicide. now it has subcided some to where she can sleep through the night but does have re occurences that are bad. our family doctor told her this sometimes happens from shingles and could last a lifetime. are there any new medications that might help? she is 81 years old and generally in good health.
Wed, 19 Feb 2014
Hi. Thanks for posting your concern at HCM
Neuralgic pain that persists after a month of Herpes zoster is called Post Herpetic Neuralgia. Post Herpetic Neuralgia sometimes persists for months in older age group.
There are various treatment options like:
--NSAIDs
--Tricyclic Antidepressants like Amytriptyline, nortryptyline etc
--Anticonvulsants like carbamazepin, Gabapentin and its derivative like pregabalin.
--Topicals like capsaicin, topical lidocaine gel(anesthetic gel) etc
In my practice i usually combine NSAIDs with either tricyclic antidepressants OR Anticonvulsants. My patients report improvement within 2-3 weeks which steadily improves in due course of time. Sometimes treatment takes 6 months or more to show satisfactory improvement.
take care
regards
Neuralgic pain that persists after a month of Herpes zoster is called Post Herpetic Neuralgia. Post Herpetic Neuralgia sometimes persists for months in older age group.
There are various treatment options like:
--NSAIDs
--Tricyclic Antidepressants like Amytriptyline, nortryptyline etc
--Anticonvulsants like carbamazepin, Gabapentin and its derivative like pregabalin.
--Topicals like capsaicin, topical lidocaine gel(anesthetic gel) etc
In my practice i usually combine NSAIDs with either tricyclic antidepressants OR Anticonvulsants. My patients report improvement within 2-3 weeks which steadily improves in due course of time. Sometimes treatment takes 6 months or more to show satisfactory improvement.
take care
regards
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