Post-herpetic neuralgia is common after you've had shingles. It affects the areas of your body where you had the shingles rash.
The symptoms usually start while you have the shingles rash or soon after it gets better. In rare cases symptoms start a few weeks or months after the shingles rash has gone.
Symptoms of post-herpetic neuralgia may include:
The pain is often mild, but some people have severe pain.
Post-herpetic neuralgia can be difficult to treat. It usually gets better eventually, but how long this takes can vary from a few months to over a year.
A GP will usually prescribe medicines to help with pain, such as:
Medicines for nerve pain may not work straight away. You'll usually start on a low dose that will be increased gradually over a few weeks. You'll have check-ups to see how well it's working and if you're getting any side effects.
If you have severe pain, if pain is affecting your daily activities, or if medicines from a GP have not worked, the GP may refer you for:
If you have post-herpetic neuralgia there are things you can do to help ease the symptoms.
wear loose cotton or silk clothes to avoid irritating your skin
protect sensitive skin using a layer of bandage, cling film or plastic wound dressing under your clothes
try holding an ice pack (or bag of frozen vegetables) wrapped in a tea towel on the painful area for up to 20 minutes every 2 to 3 hours
take cool baths or showers
try keeping a daily pain diary to help you see how well any treatment is working and whether your symptoms are getting better
Post-herpetic neuralgia is caused by damage to your nerves from shingles.
It's not known why some people continue to have pain for a long time after shingles has gone. It's more likely to happen if your shingles symptoms were severe and if the shingles rash affected a large area of your body.
Post-herpetic neuralgia is more common in older people and people with other health conditions such as diabetes or a weakened immune system.
Getting treatment for shingles as soon as possible can help your recovery and reduce the risk of post-herpetic neuralgia.
Having the shingles vaccine also reduces your risk of getting shingles and post-herpetic neuralgia.
The shingles vaccine is available on the NHS for:
Ask your GP surgery if you can get the vaccine on the NHS.