Treatment for Postherpetic Neuralgia
There has not been any particular treatment known to relieve postherpetic neuralgia for everyone. But series of medicine can be taken or a combination of them, to determine which one particularly works for an individual to reduce the pain. In general, combinations of drugs with different action mechanisms are associated to best results. PHN pain relieve is a challenge and should include drugs, interventionist procedures, a non-pharmacological adjuvant therapy. Self-help treatment can be taken into consideration to reduce the pain, and medicines can also be used. For the self-help treatment, wearing of comfortable cloths such as silk and cotton usually help reduce the level of irritation, wrapping of ice pack in a towel and applying on the affected area, and also the use of plastic wound dressing to protect the painful area. These treatments may include lidocaine skin patch, these are sticking plasters that contains a local anesthetic known as lidocaine which can be used on the affected area directly to reduce the pain temporarily.
In this treatment use of Capsaicin cream, a high concentrate of capsaicin is made available as a skin patch to relieve the pain which works in a way as it stops the nerves sending pain signals to the brain. This must only be done in a hospital and been monitored by your doctor, as one single treatment can last for up to two to three months depending on the improvement of the symptoms.
Anticonvulsants, the two main anti-seizure medications are gabapentin [4] and pregabalin. [5] These anticonvulsants help reduce the pain as they help stabilize abnormal electrical activity in the body’s nervous system that are caused as a result of injured nerves. Anticonvulsants may actually come with certain side effect such as dizziness, poor memory, swelling in the feet and unsteadiness.
For situations in which the pain gets worse and becomes really unbearable to cope with, other treatments include:
- Antidepressants
- Opioid painkillers
- Steroid injections
The quick treatment of acute zoster with the use of antiviral medications decreases the chances of developing PHN and also decreases the pain.