‘Botox can ease shingles agony’

JABS of anti-wrinkle drug Botox can ease severe nerve pain triggered by shingles, according to new research.

It was found to be more effective than the anaesthetic lidocaine in treating postherpetic neuralgia – a condition in which extreme nerve pain continues for months or even years after a shingles rash has healed.

Shingles is caused by the varicella-zoster virus, which lies dormant in the nerves following a chickenpox infection. In most cases, the rash and pain lasts two to four weeks, but up to one person in five develops postherpetic neuralgia.

The pain can be intense and has been described as a burning or stabbing sensation, in some cases feeling like an electric shock.

Occasionally there may be the most severe and continuous itching.

Many people with postherpetic neuralgia make a full recovery within a year, but in some cases the nerves do not heal completely and symptoms last for several years or permanently.

While most people respond to medication, including tricyclic antidepressants, anti-epileptic drugs or opioids to reduce the pain, 40 to 50 per cent do not completely respond.

A review of evidence by neurologists at Mount Sinai Medical Center in the US concluded botulinum toxin can be highly effective. It is thought to work by blocking the release of chemicals which are involved in the nerve transmission of pain.

In a study at the Guangdong Medical School in China, 60 patients were injected with either Botox, lidocaine or a dummy saline solution.

In the next few days, pain dropped more significantly in the Botox group compared with the others.

‘The long-lasting effects were accompanied by a low incidence of side effects. The only significant side effect was the pain of the injections in a few people,’ said the researchers.

Dr Nicholas Silver, consultant neurologist at the Walton Centre in Liverpool, said: ‘These studies are highly promising.’