Shingles Diagnosis

Obtaining A Proper Shingles Diagnosis

Having an early shingles diagnosis within three days of when the rash first appears can lesson the outbreak duration as well as help prevent complications such as the frustration of having continuous pain even after the lesions have already healed.

It is sometimes hard to get an early shingles diagnosis because symptoms can be vague and it can resemble other illnesses. A rash will often follow the initial diagnosis but is also easily mistaken for another illness.

Symptoms

When shingles diagnosis is needed, you need to know what the first signs are. The initial symptoms of shingles are:

Headache
Nausea
Chills
Fevers
Severe Itching
Numbness of the face or part of the body
Burning, tingling or shooting pain of the face or part of the body

The symptoms to look for next for a shingles diagnosis is swelling and redness at the pain area, numbness, itching and clusters of blisters that are filled with a clear fluid. For five days, new blisters will generally continue to appear. These blisters will either form one continuous band or they will be scattered around the body in patches and resemble the chicken pox. Depending on the individual, the blisters can be itchy and irritating or intensely painful.

The blisters and rash from shingles will usually only occur on one side of your body with the most common places being the side of your torso, side of your face, arm, leg and buttocks. Within two weeks, these blisters will fill up with pus and then they will form a scab. When this happens, the scabs no longer are contagious or contain the virus and then between three and five weeks later, the rash will go away. In most cases, the blisters should not leave any scars but they may leave the skin discolored where they were.

Obtaining A Shingles Diagnosis

It is challenging to obtain a shingles diagnosis before the rash actually appears. One side of the face or body usually experiences numbing, pain, itching or tingling. Some people have such severe pain that it is mistaken for kidney stones, appendicitis, gallstones or a heart attack.

Your doctor will be able to distinguish between shingles and poison ivy, chicken pox or any other type of rash simply by examining the distribution of lesions. In addition to looking at the lesion distribution, a swab or scraping of the blister may be taken and sent to a laboratory for a precise shingles diagnosis.

Treatment

After a shingles diagnosis has been made there are basically four goals of treatment:

Attempt to shorten the rash or eruptive stage duration.
Speed up the healing time of the lesions.
Take measures to relieve discomfort.
Shorten the postherpetic neuralgia duration.

Shingles are generally treated with:

Oral antiviral drugs that help to reduce the infection duration.
Anti-inflammatory, over-the-counter drugs to help decrease inflammation.
Over-the-counter and prescription strength antidepressants and pain relievers.

Getting a shingles diagnosis early is important so that you can start treatment before it gets out of hand. Shingles duration is significantly reduced in most patients by taking oral prescription antiviral medications.

Helpful Tips

If you have a positive shingles diagnosis, there are helpful things that you can do to be more comfortable:

Take cool baths at least twice a day or apply a cool compress.
Avoid hot water and warmth, this will only make you more itchy.
Cover lesions with loose-fitting gauze or a clean cloth.
Trim your fingernails to reduce bacterial infection that comes from scratching.
Avoid wearing any tight clothing that can irritate the rash.