Post-Herpetic Neuralgia

Each year, about 1 million people in the United States develop shingles, also called herpes zoster, a painful skin rash caused by the reactivation of a dormant chicken pox virus. Roughly 10 percent of those with shingles suffer long-lasting pain called post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN). Although most people have shingles for about a month, the pain and skin sensitivity of PHN can continue for months or even years.

Our Pain Clinical Research Center is a world leader in research on the cause and management of pain. Many painful conditions such as post-herpetic neuralgia are studied to improve existing treatments and develop new ones. Research on PHN has resulted in major advances in our understanding of the mechanisms underlying this and other types of chronic pain. Proof that chronic neuropathic pain can be relieved by opioids, topical medications, the anticonvulsant gabapentin and other medications have come from studies conducted at the center.

Reviewed by health care specialists at UCSF Medical Center.
Last updated August 29, 2007