Shingles in Eye? Ouch!

People who had Chicken Pox as a child live under the cloud of a possible nightmare: 1 in every 3 adults suffers an illness that is due to the same virus, known as Shingles.

Shingles occurs because the virus never disappears, but instant lies in waiting in your central nervous system, and can come out for a curtain call at age 50, 60 or 70. And when it does, it results in painful red blisters in the area of the nerve. One of the worse complications is when the Herpes Zoster virus that's responsible affects the first branch of the 5th cranial nerve, affecting the cornea and other structures of the eye. Treatments consist of oral antiviral medications and sometime eyedrop antivirals. But nothing makes the Shingles of the eye (or body) disappear quickly. Trouble can go on for months, and it is not usual for people to experience pain (post-Herpetic neuralgia) for a long time. So if you're 50 years or older, you owe it to yourself to speak with your doctor about getting a Shingles vaccine to PREVENT this painful and difficult complication from the Chicken Pox virus. Zostavax is already approved by insurance companies if you're 60 years or older, but you can get the vaccine if you're 50 years or older. And a newer vaccine, Shingrix, may be even more effective. You can read more about this in a New York Times story by clicking HERE.*