Chronic vulvar pain related to shingles (new medical article)

This is the clinical report of two women who were finally diagnosed with nerve damage from shingles after years of pain. Shingles is caused by a virus and affects nerves and skin, leading to bad lasting pain. The pain can be treated with antiviral medication and tricyclic antidepressants.

If shingles is treated immediately, it can halve the problem. It's really the chicken pox virus, which lurks in nerve cells until it's brought back to life. It can cause a painful rash to go with the nerve pain. The rash can be misdiagnosed as herpes.

Since it can be treated, it's worth figuring out whether this could be the problem if you have vulvar pain.

SOURCE: Obstetrics & Gynecology 2002;99:625-628.

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