The shingles rash fades, but for some people the pain stays — sometimes for months. That lingering, burning, hypersensitive pain has a name: postherpetic neuralgia (PHN). Even the brush of a shirt can hurt.
Why it happens
Shingles inflames and damages nerves, and those irritated nerves can keep firing long after the rash clears. Because it's nerve pain, ordinary painkillers often don't touch it.
Where topicals come in
PHN tends to sit in a defined patch of skin — which makes it a natural candidate for a topical approach that puts medicine right on the affected area. Numbing agents and nerve-pain medicines can be compounded into a cream or gel tailored to the spot and strength your prescriber wants, with the aim of relief without heavy whole-body effects.
Prevention deserves a mention
If you haven't had shingles yet, the shingles vaccine is the best tool to lower your risk of the rash — and of the PHN that can follow. It's worth asking your prescriber or pharmacist whether you're a candidate.
Still hurting weeks after shingles? Talk to your prescriber about a topical option, and bring it to Orleans Compounding Community Pharmacy. Call 613-824-3111 or learn more at https://orleansrx.ca/pages/compounding-services.
Read next: "Living with nerve pain: how topical compounds fit in."
This article is general information, not medical advice. Compounded preparations are customized prescriptions, not Health Canada–approved drug products, and the evidence behind them varies by ingredient and condition. Whether any treatment is right for you depends on your individual health — please speak with your prescriber and pharmacist. Orleans Compounding Community Pharmacy · 2746 St-Joseph Blvd, Unit 100, Orléans, ON · 613-824-3111.
