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First Aid Safety, General Safety Issues, Health Issues

Ten Things You Didn’t Know About Shingles and Chicken Pox (Guest Post)

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Submitted by Sara Dawkins, of http://www.nannypro.com/.

 Shingles is a very painful skin rash that appears in a band or a patch of red bumps on your skin.  You can only get shingles if you have already had chicken pox.  The same virus that causes chicken pox stays in your body and can cause you to get shingles at any time.  To learn more about shingles, check out these 10 things that you may not have known about the rash.

  1. Shingles affects your nerve endings.  If you got chicken pox as a child, the virus will never really leave your body.  The virus attaches itself to your nerve roots and remains dormant until something affects your immune system.  If your immune system is weakened, Shingles can occur.
  2. Often shingles will only appear on one side of your body.  The Herpes Zoster virus (chicken pox) travels down the nerve to the spine and lies dormant.  Because that nerve only serves one side of your body, it is likely that the shingles will only appear on one side.
  3. You can get shingles at almost any age.  If a person has had chicken pox at one point in their life and they have an immune system that is compromised, they can get shingles.  Despite popular belief, children are not immune and it’s not just something that people over 50 get.  Shingles will often occur during chemotherapy treatments because of the compromised immune system, or during any other severe illness.
  4. Stress can bring on shingles.  While many things can compromise your immune system, it doesn’t have to be anything very dramatic.  Have you been under a lot of stress with work and family?  Who hasn’t, right?  Even stress like that can cause shingles, despite there being no other factors.
  5. Shingles isn’t that contagious.  Shingles is not contagious in most people.  It is possible to infect someone with the Herpes Zoster virus and give them chicken pox if they have never had them or have never received a vaccine for them.  However, this can only happen if that person comes in contact with the fluid from the blisters.  For the most part, you get shingles because you had chicken pox as a kid.
  6. The red bumps will turn into blisters if left untreated.  Shingles starts out as a band or patch of blisters that are red and itchy.  As the illness progresses, blisters will develop in the rash.  The blisters will then dry up and scab over before they will go away.  Some people will scar from the blisters and sores that form, which is why it’s important not to pick at the scabs.  You can soak the infected area to speed up the healing.
  7. Shingles is not related to Herpes simplex 1 or 2.  The Herpes Zoster virus causes both chicken pox and shingles.  Herpes simplex 1 causes cold sores, which are blisters around the mouth.  Herpes simplex 2 is the kind that causes genital herpes. 
  8. If you are over 50 you can get a vaccine for shingles.  The shingles vaccine helps prevent shingles in only about 50% of recipients, according to WebMD, and may decrease the pain and duration related to shingles if the virus is contracted after someone has been vaccinated.
  9. Your skin may feel like it’s been burned.  One of the first symptoms of shingles that you should watch for is a burning feeling on your skin.  The skin won’t look like it’s been burned.  The burn feels more like a chemical burn than sunburn because the skin is not hot.
  10. Treat the itching with calamine lotion.  There is considerable itchiness with the shingles rash, and it is typically treated with over the counter medicines like calamine lotion.  Other anti-itch medicines like cortisones can also help the itch.  Other home treatments can include cold compresses and ibuprofen for the pain.

If left untreated, shingles can be one of the most painful things to endure, but there is hope if you can recognize it early and seek treatment right away.  If you start on an antibiotic and antiviral medication from your doctor as soon as you realize you may have it, you could avoid getting the blisters altogether.  Instead of treating it for four or more weeks with possible scarring, you could cut that down to only a couple of weeks.  The trick is to seek medical attention early.  Shingles can also cause numbness in fingers, but that will most likely go away over time.

General Safety Issues, Uncategorized, Weather Protection

SUNSHINE AND CERTAIN MEDICATIONS DON’T MIX!

We have mentioned UVA and UVB rays in several articles and the damage that they can do to your skin and eyes.  Another consideration to factor in is what can happen if you are taking certain medications and are exposed to the sun.  We all worry about skin cancer, but there are other sun illnesses that can occur.  Because of some of the ingredients in certain medications, and depending on the sensitivity of a person, even a very brief exposure to the sun or using a tanning booth or sunlamp can cause a person to experience a burn. 

According to Dr. Mehmet Oz, in a recent article in AARP Magazine, there are three types of sun illnesses: phototoxicity, photoallergy and sun-induced eczema.  Also,  Brian Adams, M.D., a University of Cincinnati dermatologist, reports that some of the most common causes of a phototoxic reaction (sunburn) related to medication ingestion are the tetracyclines, (antibiotics).  This is frequently experienced, minutes to hours after UV exposure, causing pain and exacerbated sunburn.  Photoallergy and sun-induced eczema are more rare, and occur either gradually, over time, or one to two days after UV exposure, and can occur to either sun-exposed skin or anywhere on skin.  Their main symptoms are itching and redness, rash, and possibly blistering. 

According to Dr. Oz, dermatologists think long-term, intense sun exposure may alter our skin in such a way that our immune system no longer recognizes it as our own.  Sun-induced eczema occurs when your entire immune system goes haywire, causing itchy, red skin, or in some cases, blisters.  This is more common in older men who have a history of working outdoors, or women who love to sunbathe.  

This is a list of the types of medications that can irritate your skin if you are taking or using:

  • NSAIDS;
  • Antibiotics;
  • Statins;
  • Hypoglycemics;
  • Diuretics;
  • Sunscreens – containing para-aminobenzoic acid (PABA), cinnamates, benzophenones, salicylates.
  • Fragrances, such as musk ambrette, 6-methylcoumarin, sandalwood. 

Fragrances, you wonder?  A sun allergy, called a photoallergy, comes on more slowly but can be dangerous.  This type of sensitivity usually happens when UV rays convert a chemical, such as a fragrance on your skin, into a substance that your immune system decides to attack, which results in an itchy, red rash that takes several days to go away. 

Experts at the University of Cincinnati report that sunscreen is designed for use under normal circumstances, and certain medications can cause abnormal conditions.  Because we have no preliminary test for knowing what type of reaction a person will have, experience can be hazardous.  The experts say the best defense is to avoid the sun altogether when taking medications recognized as producing an adverse reaction.  If you absolutely have to be out in the sun, take precautions with additional sunscreen and sunblock, paying attention to the face by using zinc oxide on sensitive areas such as the mouth, nose and ears.  Wearing a hat and sun protective clothing is always recommended. 

The American Skin Cancer’s website has a list of medications that can cause adverse reactions to sunlight.  One other thing to remember, (for next winter): some of the worst cases occur in the winter, when skiers, who are on these medications, do not apply any sunscreen to exposed parts of their face because, in part, they think it is too cold to sunburn. 

Source: AARP Magazine

             University of Cincinnati

 

 

 

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