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Advice and treatment service for shingles
Do you have symptoms suggestive of a shingles infection? Getting an antiviral treatment in the early stages of the shingles infection can reduce the severity and duration of symptoms. Find your nearest participating pharmacy and book your appointment online.
*The age limit for this service is 18 years and over. The pharmacy team will assess your eligibility for the free NHS Pharmacy First Service. If you are not eligible, the pharmacy team may recommend a private service/treatment or sign-post you to another health service provider. Book your appointment online.
How It Works?
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Featured Pharmacies
Find featured pharmacies that offer the NHS Pharmacy First Service. This service includes seven different common conditions including Shingles infection.
What is shingles?
Shingles is a viral infection that causes a painful rash. It is caused by the same virus that causes chickenpox. When an individual is infected with chickenpox, the virus stays in their body in an inactive form. The inactive virus can become activated due several reasons, causing shingles.
The virus that causes chickenpox and later becomes reactivated to cause shingles is called the varicella-zoster virus.
What are the Main Symptoms of shingles?
It is important to recognise the signs and symptoms of shingles and start a treatment course.
The initial signs of shingles include:
- Painful feeling in an area of the skin
- Having a headache or feeling unwell
The rash usually appears a few days later. The rash occurs most commonly on the chest or tummy but it can appear anywhere on the body, including the face, eyes and genitals.
The rash usually develops on one side of the body.
What are the available treatments for shingles through the Pharmacy First Service?
Once you have a consultation with one of our pharmacists, if it is clinically appropriate and you meet the eligibility criteria, you will be offered a treatment to help with the recovery from the shingles infection.
Antiviral tablets (for the treatment of shingles (herpes zoster) infection)
If treatment through the Pharmacy First Service is not suitable or you don’t meet the eligibility criteria, the pharmacist will offer an alternative service or sign-post you to another service.
Find out more about shingles by visiting the NHS.uk webpage.
What is the Pharmacy First Service?
The Pharmacy First Service is an NHS service designed to offer free advice and treatments to eligible patients for seven common conditions. Patients can access this service at participating pharmacies in England. The conditions covered by this service include shingles.
- sore throat
- sinusitis
- acute otitis media
- infected insect bite
- impetigo
- uncomplicated urinary tract infections in women
Find your nearest pharmacy offering the Pharmacy First Service and book online.
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