Conversation: The conversation between human and AI assistant.
[|Human|] HI, I have a flu last week and fall asleep on the couch for several hours, when I woke up my right side and lower back was aching, After couple days the pain is not go away and I applied muscle rub at night, I woke up the next morning with rashes on my lower back and abdominal... the rash is not too many only a couple spot some is look like a mosquito bites and it is itch no ooze or bump just red rash... I feel great and have no more flu or cold but still have some pain in my lower back and side eventhough is not too painful... do I have a Shingle or do I have an alergy from the muscel rub? should I make an appointment with my doctor?
[|AI|]  Hello. Thanks for writing to us at Chat Doctor Your description of the rash and associated pain does seem to suggest a possibility of Shingles; more so if the rash is arranged in a stripe like pattern across one half of the body, with a sharp mid-line cut off. Shingles may initially start either as rash or as raised patches and subsequently may develop fluid filled lesions. Therefore, absence of fluid filled lesions from the start doesn't rule out shingles. Pain is more of a feature of herpes Zoster; irritation to the muscle rub would have been associated with a burning sensation rather than pain. I would suggest that you visit a dermatologist for a confirmatory diagnosis. A dermatologist would be better able to confirm it or rule it out. There is usually associated pain which may be shooting or stabbing in quality. If Shingles is confirmed to be shingles on visual inspection, treatment would be with an oral antiviral e.g. acyclovir or val acyclovir. Associated pain also need to be managed appropriately with NSAIDsFirst step would be to visit a dermatologist for a confirmatory diagnosisRegards