The shingles had become so painful as they were putting pressure on my ears and throat the chemist gave me a stronger cream called Zostrix, They offered me two strengths and being in pain I chose the strongest one.
I underestimated how strong this was, I discovered the hard way that the cream works in two stages. When you apply the cream it warms up the area and then starts to burn and eventually once the burning goes away you discover it is numb.
I applied the cream to my neck and washed my hands, later on I touched my eye and within seconds it started to burn up. I washed my hands again and whilst treasure hunting my nostril started to burn and then dribbling when it became numb.
At that point I picked up the cream and put it in my bathroom so it was out of sight and washed my hands again.
When I went to bed later I started brushing my teeth and then, can you see where this is going? My cream and toothpaste were in identical tubes and as it was late I picked up the wrong one.
I think the cream works by distracting you from the initial pain by creating new zones of pain around your body as my rash had not troubled me all night. My eye was bloodshot, my nostril numb and my mouth numb and still very sore.
Zostrix