BY THE DOC

Queuing, wrapping and ignoring Brexit makes Christmas a stress

It can all get a bit too much at this time of year.

There’s a huge amount of queuing, a bit too much wrapping and a fair amount of politely ignoring that thing your uncle just said about Brexit.

No wonder some people begin to really feel the pressure.

A woman who came to see me last week had a bout of shingles, and I suspected from what she was saying the stress of having a nice Christmas hadn’t been helping.

She’d felt dull pain in a band on the left hand side of her chest, and this was joined by more stabbing pains.

A red and blistered rash, looking a bit like chickenpox, appeared a couple of days later.

These are the classic symptoms of shingles.

It comes from the chickenpox virus which most of us got when we were wee and although the symptoms go, the virus never technically leaves us.

The virus retreats to the nerve roots near our spinal cord where it becomes dormant.

We’re not sure why it re-emerges as shingles, but old age or a weakened immune system makes shingles more likely. Often it seems like there’s no cause, but stress or being unwell may be a trigger.

The virus travels along a nerve root and affects the area that nerve services.

The most common areas are the chest or tummy, or the face – when the eye can be affected, which can be a tricky one to treat.

There’s a lot of confusion as to whether you can catch shingles, but you can’t – you can only get it if you’ve had chickenpox previously.

But the weeping rash typical to shingles does contain the chickenpox virus.

So if you come into contact with someone who hasn’t had chickenpox, you can pass it on through contact with the rash, so it’s best to keep it covered if possible.

Painkillers help if you have shingles, and if it’s early enough and you have a bad bout or are at risk of complications, the doctor may give you anti-viral drugs.

These drugs won’t rid you of the condition but it will stop the virus multiplying further.

A few years ago we started phasing in a shingles vaccination for older people.

At the moment, most people in their 70s are eligible – check with your GP – but you can’t have it after your 80th birthday.