Herpes zoster is an acute infectious viral disease which affects the posterior spinal root ganglion of the spinal nerve. A single posterior spinal root ganglion or a small number of adjacent ones may be affected, usually on the same side. The
corresponding ganglia of the cranial nerve may also be similarly affected. The causative virus, varicella zoster, belongs to the group of host-specific DNA viruses. Postherpetic neuralgia is a continuation of herpes zoster in older patients.
Although
spontaneous resolution of herpes zoster may be expected in most patients, a significant number experience intractable pain. Postherpetic neuralgia is one of the most difficult problems encountered by physicians. There are many methods for
management of
postherpetic neuralgia, but there is no method that results in complete remission. Laser has lately come into use to reduce several acute or chronic pains. In order to determine the degree of pain relief by laser, 27 patients of postherpetic
neuralgia
were irradiated with He-Ne. Infrared, and CO2 combine scan moded lasers two to three times per week.
@ES The results were as follows:
@EN 1`) The most frequent site was thoracic vertebral nerve area.
2) Patients younger than 70 years of age showed an improvement rate of 57% vs 27% for those patients older than 70 years of age.
3) Laser therapy proved effective of those patients who received the laser treatment within one month of the onset of the disease.
4) For those patients who received treatment within one month of the disease and reflecting a 50% improvement rate, the average irradiation time was 5.7.
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