External therapy of Chinese medicine for postherpetic neuralgia

Postherpetic neuralgia.

Postherpetic Neuralgia and Trigeminal Neuralgia

Postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) is an unpredictable complication of varicella zoster virus- (VZV-) induced herpes zoster (HZ) which often occurs in elderly and immunocompromised persons and which can induce psychosocial dysfunction and can negatively impact on quality of life. Preventive options for PHN include vaccination of high-risk persons against HZ, early use of antiviral agents, and robust ...

Treatment of postherpetic neuralgia.

Herpes zoster, a commonly seen condition in daily medical practice, is reported to occur in 10–20% of the population at some time during the lifespan. Chronic, intractable postherpetic neuralgia, a sequela of herpes zoster, presents a clinical challenge. In recent years, effective antiviral agents that can be used in the outpatient setting have been developed for the treatment of herpes zoster ...

Corticosteroids for preventing postherpetic neuralgia.

BACKGROUND Postherpetic neuralgia is a common serious complication of herpes zoster. Corticosteroids are anti-inflammatory and might be beneficial. OBJECTIVES To examine the efficacy of corticosteroids in preventing postherpetic neuralgia. SEARCH STRATEGY We updated the searches for randomised controlled trials of corticosteroids for preventing postherpetic neuralgia in MEDLINE (January 195...

Prognostic factors of postherpetic neuralgia.

The investigation was aimed to determine prognostic factors related to postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), and treatment options for preventing PHN. The data showed 34 (17.0%) out of 188 patients with herpes zoster had severe pain after 4 weeks, and 22 (11.7%) after 8 weeks, compared with 109 (58.0%) at presentation. The age (>/=50 yr), surface area involved (>/=9%), and duration of severe pain (>/=4...