what can my father do to get relief from shingles, he is 89 years old?

Question

He has had them for 6 years and they never went totally away

Answer 1

Anti viral drugs help, he should talk to his doctor x

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

2

Answer 4

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
what can my father do to get relief from shingles, he is 89 years old?
He has had them for 6 years and they never went totally away

Answer 5

The first time you get chicken pox, you get blisters over most of your body and a cough and running eyes and nose. After a week, your immunity drives the chicken pox virus from your bloodstream, but it remains in your nerve roots for the rest of your life. For one in six, the virus can escape many years later and cause painful grouped blisters on the skin over the infected nerve on one side of the body. 50% of people over 60 who develop shingles, and are not treated, will suffer from post-herpetic neuralgia and have severe pain in that nerve for the rest of their lives, while fewer than 7% treated with acyclovir will suffer permanent pain. Cortisones offer little protection. So, it is very important that as soon as you develop unexplained pain in one small area in the body, and your doctor thinks that you may have shingles, you should start on acyclovir immediately and continue to take it until the blisters start to dry up. This alleviates pain sooner and reduces your chances of suffering permanent pain. Recent research shows that newer drugs, Famcyclovir and Valicyclovir, are even more effective in preventing permanent pain in shingles. If you develop postherpetic neuralgia, you can be treated with a .025% capsaicin cream and tegretol anticonvulsant pills.

Answer 6

Your dad's immune system is falling down on the job.
If you want to try alternate methods, St. John's wort could help. It's antiviral, anti-inflammatory herb that can also strengthen the nervous system. Drink the tea and massage the tincture directly into the affected area. Do check with his doctor before taking St. John's wort.
Aloe vera gel is soothing. If you can get a fresh plant, cut the leaf in half (after removing the spikes) and freeze it. Apply this cool gel every few hours.
My mom had good luck using Geranium essential oil. It gave her relief from the pain after nothing else worked. Health food stores carry this.

Answer 7

From what i know shingles is a recurrance of the chicken pox virus that a person had from before. Why dont you take him to the doctor im sure that they'd give him the right meds to make em go away.

hope that helped

Answer 8

Valtrex, it is an anti viral. Catching shingles before it gets worse is very important in treatment. Ask you doctor who may prescribe pain medication while waiting for the shingles to improve.

Answer 9

I had shingles, and went to the Dr. who gave me a perscription that made them go right away. Someone suggested I try calimine lotion, but once I took the drugs, they were gone. Best of luck.

Answer 10

Here are some all natural supplements that are very helpful.

B Complex: provides nutrients needed for healing the nerve damage

Zinc Complex: needed for healing of connective tissue

NutriFeron: immune-strengthening plant extracts that boosts the body's natural interferon

Optiflora: reduces toxin load

Hope this is useful and feel free to contact me with questions.

Answer 11

He should definitely see his doctor; however, acyclovir and neurontin may be prescribed. It depends on the medications that he is currently taking as to whether or not adding either or one of these medications is a good idea. The doctor may also prescribe a pain medication, if he is suffering a great deal.