Postherpetic neuralgia: a workable treatment plan.
Management of established postherpetic neuralgia should proceed on several fronts simultaneously and may include pain-oriented treatments that are pharmacologic, neuroaugmentative, anesthetic, physiatric, psychological, and surgical. Many patients develop a pattern of abnormal illness behavior, manifesting loss of interest in work or avocations, social withdrawal, and disturbance of family roles. Improvement in these impairments must be a goal that is as important as amelioration of the pain itself.
D000368:Aged; D000758:Anesthesia; D006562:Herpes Zoster / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009437:Neuralgia / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D010146:Pain / Q000503:physiopathology; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities; D011613:Psychotherapy