Hope for Nerve Pain After Shingles: Your Guide to QUTENZA®

Shingles is known for the characteristic rash and nerve discomfort it can cause. Fortunately for many people, as the shingles rash fades, nerve pain tends to resolve, as well. 

But for others, it’s not so straightforward: Nerve pain persists or recurs even after the rash goes away, leading to a chronic pain condition called postherpetic neuralgia (PHN). PHN can be especially hard to manage and difficult to live with. That’s because many traditional pain therapies don’t significantly relieve painful nerve symptoms, leading to long-term physical pain and emotional frustration. 

The good news is that the Advanced Medical Care team offers QUTENZA®, a prescription-strength, FDA-approved topical therapy designed specifically to target PHN nerve pain at its source. Here’s how it works and how it could help you finally find relief.

Understanding PHN

The most common shingles complication, PHN occurs when the shingles virus damages nerves rather than simply irritating them. Once damaged, nerves continue to send pain signals to your brain, even after the shingles rash has disappeared.

While shingles can affect anyone — even kids — PHN tends to be much more common among older people. Like other chronic conditions, PHN symptoms can vary in severity, causing sensations like:

• Burning
• Aching
• Stabbing
• Electricity-like zapping pain

If you have PHN, you may also be extremely sensitive to touch — even a light breeze can feel uncomfortable against your skin.

Symptoms can last for months or even years after your initial shingles infection, even though PHN may improve over time. Conservative treatments like oral or topical medication or nerve pain therapies may provide some relief, but they’re not effective for everyone.

How QUTENZA works

QUTENZA is a powerful topical pain-relief treatment derived from a very common (and surprising) source: capsaicin, the compound that gives chili peppers their intense heat. While that may sound unusual, capsaicin has been used for years in topical pain relief ointments, including some over-the-counter products.

Unlike non-prescription topical pain products, QUTENZA is much stronger — so strong, you don’t apply it yourself. Instead, it’s applied in our office by a member of our team. Once applied, QUTENZA targets damaged pain-sensing nerve fibers, significantly reducing the number of pain signals that are sent to your brain.

It’s also important to note that QUTENZA is not an opioid medication, so there’s no danger of developing a dependence on it. It also doesn’t interact with many other medicines, making it a good choice if you take other medicines for chronic health issues.

What to expect during treatment

Before we apply QUTENZA, we cleanse your skin thoroughly and apply numbing cream to make your treatment more comfortable. After applying the product, it stays on your skin for a specific amount of time — typically about an hour. While QUTENZA is on your skin, you might notice some warmth or mild burning or stinging sensations as the product penetrates and targets those overly active nerve fibers.

When your treatment time is complete, we cleanse your skin once more to ensure all product residue gets removed. In most cases, you can go back to your regular activities the same day, but you should avoid hot showers or other intense heat exposure for a few days.

QUTENZA benefits typically last for about three months. If you're still experiencing the effects of PHN at that time, we can repeat your treatment for continuing relief.

Find relief for PHN

Living with PHN can be physically and emotionally exhausting, but QUTENZA offers real hope for achieving long-term symptom relief — without the use of opioid pain medication. 

To learn more about QUTENZA and how it can help you finally find the relief you’ve been looking for, request an appointment online or over the phone with the Advanced Medical Care team in Forest Hills, Queens, and Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, New York.