Why does shingles hurt much more than chicken pox and why can’t the body get rid of the virus? Shouldn’t it be able to identify and destroy foreign microbes?
In: Biology
Chicken pox is mostly in the skin, and Shingles is that virus mostly located in the nerves. That’s why it hurts more. Why move to the nerves, if you’re a virus? Because the immune system is suppressed somewhat there, because the immune system can go crazy killing everything to wipe out a disease and nerves are small things you don’t want destroyed recklessly. That’s also why the body is slow to clear shingles in comparison to chicken pox.
Shingles is also known as herpes zoster – the Varicella-zoster virus that causes both it and chickenpox is part of the herpesvirus family which also includes herpes simplex (cold sores and genital herpes depending on the type).
These are all persistent as the virus embeds the viral DNA into your own DNA during an initial infection. Reinfections occur when the viral DNA is used to make new virus by your own cells and your immune system is weakened for whatever reason (aging, stress, other illness, etc) .
Shingles in particular embeds itself in the nerve roots, typically of your torso although not always, where it can stay hidden until it reactivates. The severe pain is caused by inflammation of the affected nerves.
On that coincidental point, I would like to ask a question.
My mother currently has Shingles, and the doctor didn’t give anything for the pain. She is an otherwise healthy person. Shouldn’t they prescribed her Gabapentin or pregabalin?
It hides out in your nerve cells, evading immune response, and then years later replicates, giving you shingles. It’s painful because it’s infecting your nerves.
And shingles hurt, omg they hurt. I got them 2 years ago in late 40s. It happened on my forehead. All of a sudden, I woke up one morning with this raise patch of skin that anytime anything touched it, it felt like it was on fire and it would get these kind of electric pulses going through it time to time. Went to the clinic that day and was happy that the Dr saw it, said it was Shingles and that I am lucky I came in so fast. They got a treatment now that can limit the outbreak IF you can get to it before 24hr pass from initial outbreak. So medded up and as able to survive the week with it. Friend also got it, didn’t catch it fast and lived with the hell for 3 weeks. Sleeping and rolling over onto the rash would wake you right out of a dead sleep.
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