Show Notes:

Marianne Nicholson, MBE, Director of the Shingles Support Society, joins Catriona to discuss shingles, the reactivation of chickenpox virus, and the lasting nerve pain it can cause.

Key takeaways:

1. Shingles is a reactivation of the chickenpox virus, appearing in a small region on one side of the body, most commonly the ribs or face. Early nerve sensations are often mistaken for a pulled muscle or insect bite.

2. The 72-hour window to start antiviral treatment is critical. The sooner treatment begins, the less severe the outbreak and the lower the risk of lasting pain.

3. The NHS shingles vaccine (Shingrix, two doses) is available to people who turned 65 after 1st September 2023 and anyone in their 70s. After 80, it is no longer available on the NHS. People over 50 can pay privately.

4. Post-herpetic neuralgia is ongoing nerve pain after shingles has healed, sometimes lasting for life. Research has measured the pain as worse than childbirth in some cases.

5. Because shingles pain is 'ghost pain' created by disturbed nerves rather than actual tissue damage, psychological techniques like hypnotherapy and physical strategies like firm pressure bandages can help manage it safely.

Marianne Nicholson, MBE, has been Director of the Shingles Support Society for almost 30 years, helping people understand shingles, its prevention, and its aftermath.

For more information, visit shinglesupport.org.uk. If this episode could help someone you know, please share it.

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1. [02:15] Marianne explains that chickenpox sets up home in a corner of your body and can reactivate as shingles when your immune system is less efficient or has lowered its guard over time.

2. [04:30] Marianne describes the early nerve sensations of shingles: 'people think that they pull the muscle or they've been bitten by an insect or they've got perhaps an allergy to a plant in the garden because of that nettle sting feeling.'

3. [05:10] Marianne states that doctors are told that after 72 hours it's probably not worth giving the antiviral drugs, emphasising 'the sooner the better for shingles.'

4. [10:45] Marianne explains that people who have nursed series of children through chickenpox are less likely to have shingles than those who last met chickenpox virus at age 10.

5. [13:20] Marianne clarifies the NHS vaccine eligibility: people who turned 65 after 1st September 2023, anyone in their 70s, but not after 80. She also explains that people over 50 can buy it privately.

6. [15:50] Marianne describes her own decision to pay privately for Shingrix after receiving Zostavax years earlier, because Zostavax is not expected to last more than about 10 years.

7. [19:45] Marianne references research showing shingles pain measured as worse than childbirth, then adds: 'imagine being in the throes of childbirth every day for the rest of your life with never a baby to show for it.'

8. [21:30] Marianne describes her own shingles pain as 'somebody had got one of those wire brushes that you use to brush rust off cars and was sort of pushing it into my back,' and that 10 years later she still has 10% of that pain.

9. [24:10] Marianne explains that shingles pain is 'ghost pain' because 'there is nothing wrong with the area that hurts,' unlike a broken leg or burnt skin, so psychological ways of ignoring it are perfectly safe.

10. [27:00] Marianne shares the corset T-shirt tip: a man bought a heavily elasticated T-shirt, had a seamstress add hooks and eyes down the front, and the firm pressure stopped the feeling of clothing scraping his skin like sandpaper or barbed wire.

My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

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