Ark hit by plague, when shingle isn't a beach.

  A week or so ago, I found I was getting pain in my right ear, together with pain in my mouth and swollen gland in my jaw. I visited my doc and she and I agreed that there was an infection best combatted with Amoxicilin, an antibiotic. However, a week later, I got all sorts of puzzling symptoms, including pain in my hair and teeth, a rash on my face including my beard and ache in my ear. Back to the docs I went suspecting an allergy to the Amoxicilin, but the doc brought me up short, making a definite diagnosis of 'Zona' which I found, is French for Shingles' !  Well, that was a new one for me....the doc  prescribed an antiviral medication plus an Alcohol wipe to treat the rash, which had developed into small pustules like chicken pox spots.
  Well, it was back home and dive for Google to see whatever is Shingles. It seems it is a strange recurrence of the chicken pox virus, which hides in the nervous system and lies dormant for many years before emerging when the patient is stressed, or his resistance is low. Relatively common in over seventies, it seems. A strange symptom is that the effects are one-sided, on one side of the body, not crossing the mid-line! A great aid to diagnosis...
  A comforting fact I learnt is that the condition is not infectious, you can't catch shingles from a sufferer. You can, however, pass on chicken pox to someone who has never had this illness, so you have to be careful, especially around children- no polite kissing as is usual here!
  The condition usually goes away after about four weeks, but can be quite painful while it lasts. The antiviral medication is chiefly to reduce this and reduce the risk of a recurrence, always a possibility. Rather worryingly, the doc asked if I had plenty of Paracetamol, I got the impression I might well need it...
  I suppose it's early days yet, but the pain isn't too bad, an ache in the ear and neck, chiefly but the painkiller is comforting especially when you're trying to sleep. Kim has been looking after me well, I'm really glad she's back from the UK.

   Bye for now, going to continue my convalescing.