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Dermatology (Expert Forum)
pleas give info. on shingles
Answered by
Alan Rockoff, MD - dermatology, Child Skin Problems
The Rockoff Dermatology Center
Brookline - MA
Welcome to the DERMATOLOGY FORUM! Questions in this forum are answered by Dermatologists from St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital, under the direction of Andrew Alexis, M.D., M.P.H.
Doctor's Answer
by Alan Rockoff, MD, Feb 01, 2001 12:00AM
, Feb 01, 2001 12:00AM
Shingles, which comes from the Latin word for. "girdle," is a recurrence of the chickenpox virus. Doctors call it, "zoster." After you recover from chickenpox, the virus often hides out in one of the nerve roots in the spine. You don;t know it's there until it recurs--often on the chest or abdomnen (hence "girdle") or else on the face, legs, wherever. It only affects the one side of the body that nerve supplies. Shingles dries up all by itself in 2-3 weeks. It can be very uncomfortable, and some elderly people have long-lasting pain, but most people don't. There are oral antibiotics which, if taken right away, shorten the course a little, though the condition gets better by itself when the person is basically healthy, and most are.
That's a start, anyway. For more, look at www.dermnet.org.nz.
Best.
Dr. Rockoff
That's a start, anyway. For more, look at www.dermnet.org.nz.
Best.
Dr. Rockoff
