Hey, Pam,
So sorry about your bout with shingles! Ouch, ouch. My bout was more than 10 years ago and yet I can still recall exactly how much it hurt. Nerve pain is such a different pain than other pain. I remember that it hurt even when nothing was touching it, not even a cotton sheet. It was sensitive even to breeze from the ceiling fan.
This story on CNN with Mayo Clinic info in it states that most people develop shingles only once (Thank heavens, right?) You might also be interested to know that even when your blisters are gone, you may have pain at the site for quite a while (I did.) It's called postherpetic neuralgia, and basically means your nerves are still sending pain messages to your brain:
As far as your question about the shingles vaccine goes, I think it's a good one. I think that with any vaccine, they target the most vulnerable populations first, and with shingles, more cases occur in people over 60 than in other age groups. But now that there's a chickenpox vaccine, maybe common acceptance of the shingles vaccine will be right behind.
Comment Reply
Hey, Pam,
So sorry about your bout with shingles! Ouch, ouch. My bout was more than 10 years ago and yet I can still recall exactly how much it hurt. Nerve pain is such a different pain than other pain. I remember that it hurt even when nothing was touching it, not even a cotton sheet. It was sensitive even to breeze from the ceiling fan.
This story on CNN with Mayo Clinic info in it states that most people develop shingles only once (Thank heavens, right?) You might also be interested to know that even when your blisters are gone, you may have pain at the site for quite a while (I did.) It's called postherpetic neuralgia, and basically means your nerves are still sending pain messages to your brain:
http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/library/DS/00098.html
As far as your question about the shingles vaccine goes, I think it's a good one. I think that with any vaccine, they target the most vulnerable populations first, and with shingles, more cases occur in people over 60 than in other age groups. But now that there's a chickenpox vaccine, maybe common acceptance of the shingles vaccine will be right behind.
October 17, 2008 - 9:45amThis Comment
Reply