Post herpetic neuralgia is just a fancy name for pain that occurs after an infection with the varicella zoster virus. This is the same virus that causes chicken pox.
Most people acquire chicken pox at some point in their lives. The virus unfortunately does not disappear and has a great affinity for nervous tissue where it hides. Then years later, the virus wakes up or becomes activated and causes shingles. The virus typically travels along the nerve up to the skin and produces the typical rash and blister like reaction.
In most cases, the episode of shingles resolves after about 4 weeks. However, in some people there is continued pain long after the blisters and rash have disappeared.
This pain is called post herpetic neuralgia. The pain is intense and the treatment is never satisfactory.
The typical symptoms of post herpetic neuralgia include the following:
- Severe intense burning or deep pain
- The pain is often continuous
- The area of the skin may be exquisitely sensitive to touch,
pressure, or heat
- One may also feel an itchy sensation
- Headaches are common
- Generalized body ache and fatigue
- Depression
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