Hands

[Thebull]

I was after any suggestions or advice if anyone has experienced anything similar.

I'm a bar manager in an exceptionally busy pub/restaurant and I handle hundreds probably thousands of hot glasses a day that go through the dishwasher. This hasn't been a problem for seven months until I recently suffered from a bout of shingles.

Since then I get about half way through the day and my hands seem to get effected by the water or heat of the glasses and I can hardly bear to touch the glasses. I know in sounds strange but it's difficult to explain the sensation. It can feel like someone scraping a blackboard and can really make me cringe and it's really starting to effect my job. It seems I have to keep my hands wet As I can continue to handle the glasses.

I have used heavy duty moisturizers on a night but doesn't seem to have made a difference. I thought I would ask here before I visit the doctors. I enjoy my work but I'm getting to the point where I'm dreading to go work.

I don't know if I've explained it very well but Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated It's becoming a real struggle.

 

[monotonic]

Sounds like a real pain. My mother has a high tolerance for scalding water which used to confuse me back when I thought I was the toughest thing there is.

My only thought is, could it have to do with an endorphin deficiency, maybe even localized to the hands? Maybe you could experiment with that idea.

 

[Alada]

I can't remember if I read it here or elsewhere recently but there was a piece about a neat pain telief trick where if you stub your toe squeezing the area can help ease the pain as the pressure signal overrides the pain signal. While you're still sensitive from the shingles flare up I wonder (if the glasses are strong / thick enough to do it safely) whether you could try picking them up more firmly, that more pressure might override a sensitive pain signal in the same way?

Wonder if there's any kind of specialized glove you can use until things settle down? A pair of white gloves might look quite natty in your line of work!

 

[monotonic]

Squeezing hot glass objects while under mental load while working through pain is a recipe for disaster.

 

[Chad]

I wouldn't know about the shingles or the general issue mentioned but for basic hand care i think Shea Butter based moisturisers - L'occitane is a respected brand - and perhaps a few drops of lavender essential oil mixed with it to help with the repair aspect of it (they may have a formulation with it already added but it wouldn't hurt to add more).

Lavender is very useful for burns and helps regenerate to the damaged skin. For a more intensive treatment you can leave a thick layer on and put on some gloves - i think even rubber would be ok as you don't need to leave them on for more than 10-15minutes.

As others have said though, there may be a more pressing issue you need to address; from my recollection shingles was at least made worse by stress.

Added: i mention the moisturising aspect because my mother has used these 'intensive' creams since she does a lot of lifting and deals with hot food and so on, and they're often pretty poor in both formulation and results, so just incase it helps.

 

[Renaissance]

Sounds like you should go to the doctor. Maybe having shingles did some damage to nerves in certain areas making you more sensitive to the heat. Saw this on wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postherpetic_neuralgia

Postherpetic neuralgia is a nerve pain due to damage caused by the varicella zoster virus. Typically, the neuralgia is confined to a dermatomic area of the skin, and follows an outbreak of herpes zoster (commonly known as shingles) in that same dermatomic area. The neuralgia typically begins when the herpes zoster vesicles have crusted over and begun to heal, but can begin in the absence of herpes zoster—a condition called zoster sine herpete (see Herpes zoster).

Have you tried doing the iodine protocol?

 

[scotseeker]

I had shingles once, caused by latent Chickenpox virus from childhood. My doctor prescribed Prednisone and it helped quite a lot, however I could only take it for four days, made me feel like I was crawling out of my skin! If you don't have the same reaction to Prednisone, perhaps a visit to the doctor would help.

 

[T.C.]

Hi Thebull

How's your diet in general? Are you ketogenic?

I'm wondering if it has something to do with the myelin sheathing of your nerves? Do some searches for ketogenic diet, myelination and fatty acids. Aside from essential fatty acids and ketones, this link gives some other supps and nutrients and talks about how building good myelin sheaths can at least prevent one from getting shingles, but maybe approaching from this area might help? It certainly couldn't hurt.

Shingles can be painful and last a long time. Shingles are caused by a virus. Although you build up permanent immunity after having a good bout of chicken pox so that you won't get chicken pox 2 times, the virus can lay dormant in your body's spinal cord or nerve ganglia for years and can later pop out as a case of the Shingles.

For this reason it is wise to avoid exposure of chicken pox to the elderly or immune weak.

Varicella Zoster virus which causes chicken pox also causes shingles. Shingles is a very painful viral infection of the nerve endings. It usually starts out as shooting pain and after several days a rash appears along the line of the nerve. It can last anywhere from several weeks, to months, to years.

Most people get shingles in the torso. It is suggested that if shingles appear on the face to see an Ophthalmologist to prevent spreading to the eyes which can cause blindness.

L-Lysine, an amino acid (at least 500 mg 2x times a day), Vitamin C (2000 mg 2x a day), vitamin B complex (at liberal dosages) and VS-C (about 20 or more a day) have shown remarkable results. In one case the shingles disappeared in a few days.

Caspsaicin is unsurpassed for the pain.

Although the Varicella Zoster virus is around all year, it seems to thrive in the fall to winter time of the year. This is also the time when our immune systems are compromised by cold damp or snowy weather, less use of fresh vegetables and fruits and closer contact with others (especially school children).

The most important thing you can do to prevent ever getting shingles is to make the myelin sheathing (fatty coating on the nerves) healthier, because if it is healthy it is much less likely that the virus could get to the nerve in the first place.

Common things that weaken the myelin are coffee, tea, soda and stress. Therefore, I would stop the usage of any of them. I would whenever possible, eliminate as much stress as possible. Take time to reflect and time to unwind.

I would also add to my diet foods and herbs that help rebuild the myelin. Including fatty acids, such as flaxseed oil . I would take a nervine combination such as: Nerve Control (formally RE-X), Chinese Stress Relief (formally STR-C), Stress J (formally STR-J), etc.

It is also said that the RNA in Spirulina can help accelerate the building and healing of the nervous system.

A thin myelin sheathing can also lead to neurological conditions such as Parkinson's, OCD and MS. A healthy myelin also helps the body release serotonin, which helps improve mood and help you handle life.

 

[lilyalic]

Sounds like you should go to the doctor. Maybe having shingles did some damage to nerves in certain areas making you more sensitive to the heat. Saw this on wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postherpetic_neuralgia

Postherpetic neuralgia is a nerve pain due to damage caused by the varicella zoster virus. Typically, the neuralgia is confined to a dermatomic area of the skin, and follows an outbreak of herpes zoster (commonly known as shingles) in that same dermatomic area. The neuralgia typically begins when the herpes zoster vesicles have crusted over and begun to heal, but can begin in the absence of herpes zoster—a condition called zoster sine herpete (see Herpes zoster).

Have you tried doing the iodine protocol?

Yeah I seen this when researching, it does sound like that!
I'd suggest trying the Iodine protocol too, all the treatments for this kind of thing seem to be painkillers (temporary solution) and, believe it or not, anti-depressants, lol?!

Why does the pain persist in some people?

The symptoms of postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) can last for several months in some people. Shingles causes inflammation of the nerve. Pain can be expected whilst the rash and inflammation occur. However, it is not clear why some people continue to have pain when the inflammation has gone. It is thought that some scar tissue next to the nerve, or in the nearby part of the spinal cord, may be a factor. This may cause pain messages to be sent to the brain.

Will the pain go away?

Without treatment, postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) typically eases gradually and goes. In about 5 in 10 people with PHN, symptoms are gone by three months. However, without treatment, about 3 in 10 people with PHN still have pain after a year. Some people have a slow improvement over a long period of time. A small number of people do not have any improvement over time without any treatment.

http://patient.info/health/postherpetic-neuralgia-leaflet

 

[Alada]

Squeezing hot glass objects while under mental load while working through pain is a recipe for disaster.

Yes, hence the inclusion of "(if the glasses are strong / thick enough to do it safely)". Obviously it would be silly with thin glass, some glassware is very chunky though. Depends on what Thebull works with and of course how hot the glass is.

An alternative might be just to squeeze the hands together or make a fist for some relief, if the theory works.

 

[Erykah]

I don't know if I've explained it very well but Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated It's becoming a real struggle.

Another possibility is the chemicals that are used to clean the glasses maybe effecting your skin and adding to the shingle irritation.

I worked for many years in the restaurant industry and washed a lot of dishes. We used a final water/bleach solution after washing to make sure the dishes were 'clean' (Health Department requirement). After a while I started having negative reactions on my hands and arms breaking out in small red irritating rashes. I too tried several different creams and they seemed to make the rashes worse! I started wearing gloves and the rashes went away.

Wonder if there's any kind of specialized glove you can use until things settle down? A pair of white gloves might look quite natty in your line of work!

I'd say if your hands are still irritated a visit to the doctor is a good idea :)

 

[Yupo]

There is an engineered vitamin cocktail called Metanx. This is used mainly for diabetic neuropathy. Just in the last month or so it has gone OTC. It is pretty effective for nerve pain in feet, so it might work in hands.
I am pretty healthy, but I take this stuff anyway, as a form of health insurance.
The dose is 2/day for 3 months, then 1/day. Takes a while to work.
Considered a food, not a drug.

 

[Cosmos]

Pretty good advise and information above. Have you tried to test out if it is really only happening when you handle those glasses at your work? You only notice it at those times, or does it happen at other instances or parts of your body?

For now the virus infection sounds like the most fitting to me. So I also would suggest to go to the doctor and see what he can find out first. Taking a closer look at your diet, as others suggested, could also be an important part there...

 

[Gaby]

I second all the advice. It sounds like there is some nerve damage which is pretty common after shingles, at least nowadays. There could be many factors exacerbating this condition: toxicity, stress, bad diet, stealth infections... Any effort to improve these factors will help.

Doctors usually prescribe anti-epileptic drugs for these kind of symptoms (i.e. lyrica). I personally would not take those drugs, but rather methylated B vitamins, specially B1, B6 and B12.

I would also try topical DMSO cream in the hands before going to bed, mixed with frankincense oil or comfrey root, or any other anti-inflammatory oil.

Hope you get some relief!

 

[nicklebleu]

I think wearing some white cotton or wool gloves could do the trick, as suggested earlier, until your affected nerves have calmed down. Otherwise, I can only second the other suggestions, it may take some time though to reach a normal state of sensation in your hands again.

Good luck!