Effect of early interventions with He-Ne laser and infrared radiation for preventing neuralgia Following herpes custer

Abstract

Objective To investigate the effect of early interventions with helium-neon (He-Ne) laser and infrared physical therapy in the treatment of herpes coster. Methods Sixty-six patients with herpes zoster and concurrent severe neuralgia were randomly divided into treatment and control groups (n=33). The patients in the control group received routine treatment, and early He-Ne laser and infrared treatment was administered in addition to the routine treatment in the treatment group. The visual analogue scale (VAS) was used to evaluate the therapeutic effects in the two groups. Results Early intervention with laser and infrared treatment produced significantly better therapeutic effects than the routine treatment (U=193.520,P=0.000). In the treatment group, the rate of excellent or good therapentic effects and the response rate was 90.9% and 100.0%, respectively, without occurrence of postherpetic neuralgia;in the control group, the rate of good therapeutic effects and the response rote was 63.6% and 81.8%, respectively, and postherpetic neuralgia occurred in 3 eases (9.1%) after the treatment. Conclusion Early intervention with He-Ne laser and infrared treatment in patients with herpes coster helps achieve rapid control of the condition, shortens the treatment course, and reduces the occurrence of postherpetic neuralgia. Key words: Herpes coster; Neuralgia; Physiotherapy