Q Dear Auntie Pearl, ek het ‘n vreeslike ding oorgekom.
I’ve had the strangest type of toothache for a few weeks now, it doesn’t really bother me, it’s just there at the back, so I haven’t done anything about it.
It feels like the one side of my jaw and face is tingling and in pain.
I have had some headaches as well, but I usually have those.
Now my neighbour told me that I might have shingles.
Now I thought shingles, of soos ons hom noem, gordelroos, is a red rash that you get on your body and pains.
Can you get shingles in your mouth?
Is die vrou taatie or is this true?
Please help me with some “pearls” of wisdom. And what exactly is shingles anyway?
From Seerbek.
A Dear Seerbek, shame man, gordelroos or shingles is not lekker at all, and unfortunately your neighbour is very right – you can get shingles in your mouth.
In fact, you can get it anywhere on your body (even your ears and eyes) but it mostly appears as a single stripe of blisters that wraps around the side of your body.
That being said, Seerbek, mense often mistake shingles for another skin condition because it looks similar to hives, psoriasis, or even eczema.
The best way to know for sure is to have it confirmed by a medical professional.
The fact that you have this dull pain in the side of your face with headaches could be an early sign of shingles in the mouth.
Other symptoms are abnormal skin sensations or pain on one side of the jaw, mouth, or face; feeling sick or uncomfortable and also being sensitive to light.
After this initial period, you will start to see shingles blisters on your face, side of the jaw and even inside your mouth.
As if daai’s not bad enough hartjie, you could be dealing with a burning or shooting pain, mouth sensitivity, struggle to eat and chew and just feeling absolutely horrible.
So Auntie skeem it might be a kwaai gedagte to see a doctor and get treatment before it gets to that phase.
Hopefully it’s just a rash or a normal toothache and then you have nothing to worry about.
Now let Auntie maak you wys:
Shingles is a viral infection, so just like with any other infection, if your immune system is weak or compromised, there is a chance you can get it.
Shingles is more common in mense who are older than 50, those who have certain diseases that weaken your immune system like HIV/AIDS and cancer, or someone who has gone through a lot of emotional stress.
And here’s the most important part, Seerbek, anyone who’s ever had chickenpox aka waterpokkies or pokke as a child can get shingles later in life.
And kykie, almost everyone Auntie knows had waterpokkies as a laaitie, so we are all at risk to get shingles.
No one knows what activates the virus but the slimkoppe skeem that one out of every three people will develop shingles in their lifetime, so really, it’s as common as a Black Label quart on pay day.
Shingles usually last around two to four weeks but it’s contagious until the blisters dry up and crust over.
Go see a doctor to be sure!