Shingles on head / face / eye / in hair

[OvertiredandConfused]

Has anyone experienced this? If so, any suggestions for management and ideas of how long it might last?

The tingling sensation started over the weekend and the blotches started appearing on Monday.

I’ve been to a specialist eye unit (twice) in the last three days so I have antibiotic eye ointment as well as antivirals.

I've not had it in those places, but did have a very unusual presentation of it on the roof of my mouth and down the back of my throat. I have to say that the pain went on for almost 3 weeks, and I felt terrible, but I was initially incorrectly diagnosed with tonsillitis so started anti-virals too late really. If you are able to, I went to acupuncture and finally started to feel better after this. I was sceptical but glad I went.

Nothing but sympathy. I haven’t had it but my mum and friend have both in the last year and it’s vile.

I've had Shingles on my scalp, around my eye and another time, in my ear canal (Ramsey Hunt Syndrome).

Shingles is a horrible illness and you have my sympathy. Apart from antivirals, there's not much else you can do, except take pain relief and rest as much as possible. A cool compress can be soothing, but not ice cold.

The duration can be shorter when taking antivirals, but often, people don't know they have Shingles and it's too late to start the drugs.

It'd be hard to guess the duration as we're all different, but you have the right medication so hopefully you'll start to feel better soon 💐

I had it on face/in my eye 14 years ago. I now live with post hepatic neuralgia which affects my face (literally straight down the centre), scalp, neck, arm and hand because the gp took a while to refer me and start antivirals. I was under opthalmology for about 2 years and have permanent scaring on my eye. Also neurology (who were useless and just discharged me and said live with the pain).
Things I've tried are acupuncture, lygnocaine patches, amytriptoline, tramadol, gabapentin, physio, massage all had some effect but no cure or amazing improvement. Try not to go out in the cold/windy weather as that exacerbates the pain for most. The sooner the antivirals are started the better.

Gosh, that sounds horrendous. I started antivirals the day the first blotches appeared. Have already seen ophthalmology twice and have antibiotic cream. So far my cornea is clear. I haven’t had any new patches anywhere today - just the blistering and the first two have scabbed over.

Sorry it’s still causing problems for you

I get it in the same place op. Apart from Anti virals and painkillers there is not much else you can do.

I did get a cool pad to put inside the pillow case at bed time, as it helped settle the itching if i pressed my face against it.

Just try your best not to scratch and be kind to yourself

I had it on the same nerve (trigeminal) 2 yrs ago and also have PHN (neuralgia) afterwards, I am on codeine and gabapentin for it.

Aw it's horrible, I had it on my face and eye and now have neuralgia and have suffered for years with it. The cold, slight wind, a puff of a draught set it off! I've not got any help other than hugs and rest and recover xx

Just updating in case anybody else searches and finds this thread!

I’ve had a rough (almost) 2 weeks but well on the mend now.

Because I had patches in my hair, I was very nervous about washing my hair causing more irritation. I bought this shampoo - unscented and recommended for sensitive scalps. It worked fine and I definitely felt better after washing my hair. I kept the water on the cool side and was relatively gentle. No hairdryer yet.

I found gently pressing the underside of a cold spoon on the area around my swollen eye gave more relief than a traditional cold compress.

Once the blisters had dried out, I found this soothing balm from Tropic an absolute godsend. It has soothed dry patches and really helps reduce the soreness.

Staying on top of pain medication was essential for me. I had a hysterectomy five months ago and only took painkillers for 48 hours afterwards. Day 12 of shingles and I’m still taking them.