Can You Get Permanent Nerve Damage From Shingles

Phn occurs when the varicella zoster virus damages the nerves.

Can you get permanent nerve damage from shingles.

July 25 2005 a new study offers insights into what helps and what does not help relieve long lasting shingles pain. Burning lingering pain after shingles. After you ve had chickenpox the virus lies inactive in nerve tissue near your spinal cord and brain. The nerve damage that is caused by shingles disrupts the proper functioning of the nerve.

Shingles can cause long lasting nerve damage that can persist for months or even years there is no way to know when shingles will strike. While it isn t a life threatening condition shingles can be very painful. Roughly 30 to 60 of people over age 60 who get shingles go on to develop a chronic pain syndrome called post herpetic neuralgia. 5 options may help you.

Postherpetic neuralgia occurs if your nerve fibers are damaged during an outbreak of shingles. Damaged fibers can t send messages from your skin to your brain as they normally do. Instead the messages become confused and exaggerated causing chronic often excruciating pain that can last months or even years. Webmd reports that up to 50 percent of those over age 60 who haven t been treated for their shingles will develop postherpetic neuralgia phn.

Shingles is caused by the varicella zoster virus the same virus that causes chickenpox. Postherpetic neuralgia occurs when nerve fibers are damaged permanently by the shingles virus. Shingles a viral infection of the nerve roots affects 1 million people in the u s each year. The damaged nerve fibers are unable to properly communicate with the brain sending exaggerated.

Years later the virus may reactivate as shingles. The faulty nerve becomes confused and sends random chaotic pain signals to the brain. This can lead to a. Doctors call it postherpetic neuralgia or phn.

The cdc states that approximately 10 to 13 percent of people who get shingles will experience phn.