Understanding Herpes Zoster
Michalis 'BIG Mike' Kotzakolios

Defined Tag: Herpes Zoster.

While most people are aware of genital and oral herpes, they are often surprised to learn that there is another type, herpes zoster. This is an old disease, believed to have had a parasitic relationship with mankind since we first domesticated farm animals. For this reason, it has become adaptive, even evolving into other strains. The basic form of the disease is also known as shingles and can be rather strong and deleterious to the skin.

Herpes zoster comes from the varicella-zoster virus, the same virus that brings about chickenpox. After a person has contracted chickenpox, the virus remains in the body indefinitely, meaning that an attack of herpes zoster can result at any time. Strangely enough, if a person has never had chickenpox and is then comes into contact with someone with shingles, chickenpox, rather than shingles, will usually be contracted. As well, those who had chickenpox before the age of 1 remain prone to contracting the pox again later in life.

It is not known exactly what sets this attack into motion, but age and stress on the immune functions of the body are believed to be the primary factors as it is usually those over sixty and those with weakened immune systems who display symptoms of this disease. It is usually the torso of the body, and not the limbs that are affected as symptoms manifest in a belt-shaped rash.

Symptoms begin with a rash of flushed patches that wrap about the body from the spine to the mid-section at the front of the body. Thus, usually only one half of the body is affected. Soon blisters form over the rash and break within a week, at very most. These blisters rupture leaving behind sores. The sores will naturally crust over and fall off in a fortnight. At this point the skin is rosy-colored and tender, but healthy.

Though the trunk of the body is the usual zone of incidence, any part of the body is susceptible, including the face. As the herpes zoster virus stores itself in the nerves of the spine, so it is by the nerves that it travels through the body before rising to the surface of the skin.

In the face is a nerve that branches into three different regions. Depending upon which branch of the trigeminal nerve the herpes zoster virus travels determines where it will appear on the face. These three zones are the lower face, the middle section, and the brow. The manifestation of the virus is stronger in the face with the appearance of skin lacerations, which sadly often erupt inside the mouth or in the eyes, the latter of which may result in blindness without prompt medical attention.

To further matters, herpes zoster may result in other health problems. Prominent amongst these problems are post-herpetic neuralgia and Ramsay Hunt Syndrome. The former is a continuance of often extreme, even debilitating pain that is especially deleterious to older people. Ramsay Hunt Syndrome is known to cause loss of the taste sense in part of the tongue, skin lesions, hearing loss, and even facial paralysis.

Unfortunately, there is little that medical science can do at present until more is learned about this virus. The best treatment available is generally applied to the symptoms of this sometimes crippling disease.

BIG Mike is a well known author, developer and Adsense expert as well as the owner of Niche Maniacs - a unique Adsense Marketing System designed to build long-term passive income streams from Adsense, YPN, Chitika and other PPC services.