As a part of our mission to serve the community, New Wave Home Care is collaborating with Pasadena Senior Center to raise awareness for various issues affecting seniors. This past week, we focused on educating our local aging community on the topic of Shingles. Our October 17 presentation covered information on symptoms, precautions, how it’s contracted, when it’s contagious, complications from the virus, treatment options, and much more.
Shingles virus is known to be of higher risk for seniors. It is a reactivation of the chickenpox virus, and can affect anyone who has previously contracted chickenpox. Because the chickenpox vaccine has become more standardized in the past couple of decades, shingles is more common in adult and senior populations. Adults born before the standardization of the vaccine are much more likely to have contracted chickenpox at some point in their lives.
Telltale signs of shingles are a painful and blistering rash which can spread quickly. Most commonly, it’s treated with topical anaesthetics and antiinflammatories, as well as oral medications, such as acyclovir or valacyclovir.
Even with medication and treatment, shingles is known to be particularly persistent and painful. However, it is also highly preventable, which is why raising awareness for prevention of the virus is so important. Adults 50 years and older are suggested to get the shingles vaccine to prevent contracting the virus. For those who have had chickenpox, it’s extremely important to get vaccinated.
Our presentation on shingles provided all of this important information and more. Engaging with seniors in our community about this topic was a very simple way of raising awareness for such a common issue affecting this population. In the future, we plan on continuing to collaborate with the Pasadena Senior Center to educate our community on more topics. Please look out for our next class hosted at the Pasadena Senior Center for more helpful presentations about senior wellness!
