I’m suffering from neuralgia in my head after having shingles for seven or eight weeks – help!

Q) I AM suffering from neuralgia in my head after having shingles for seven or eight weeks.

Do you have a cure for the pain, which is now in the left hand side of my face, affecting my eye and my tongue? My head is sore from the nape of my neck to the top of my head.

1

A) Postherpetic neuralgia is the most common complication of shingles.

It’s a long-lasting pain that affects areas where shingles rashes were present, including the eye and potentially the tongue.

It usually gets better eventually, but can vary from a few months to over a year.

Different types of painkiller medications may need to be tried. Paracetamol or paracetamol with codeine helps some people.

Medicines to treat nerve pain would usually be tried next, such as amitriptyline, duloxetine, gabapentin or pregabalin.

These may not work straight away – the dose is usually increased gradually over weeks until it becomes effective.

It’s important to be aware of the potential side-effects before starting them.

Plasters containing lidocaine (a local anaesthetic) can help some people manage pain of the skin, but not the eye or tongue.

Others benefit more from CBT talking therapy, which can be particularly useful if the pain is impacting your daily activities.

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