Emily MacDonagh Shares Health Update on Shingles
Emily MacDonagh, the wife of singer Peter Andre, has shared a health update with her fans after being diagnosed with shingles. The 36-year-old doctor took to Instagram on Friday to answer some of the most common questions from her previous video about the condition. She discussed symptoms, treatment, when to seek help, and how the condition can spread.
Shingles is caused by the varicella zoster virus, which is part of the herpes family. Most people contract this virus as children and it causes chickenpox. Once a person is infected, the virus stays dormant in the body but can reactivate if the immune system is temporarily weakened.
In her video, Emily said: “Hi everyone, I wanted to say first of all thank you so much to everyone who watched my video about shingles. I’m really glad it was helpful for some of you and also to raise some awareness. There was some really good questions in the comments, so I thought I’d use this as an opportunity to answer some of them.”
After concluding her Q&A, she shared a health update with followers, saying: “Thank you so much again to everyone who sent in questions, I hope that was helpful, and lots of you had asked how I’m feeling, and I’m definitely feeling better. I had some treatment myself, and that was for a week, and it’s worked really well. I’ve still got a little bit of pain left, but feeling much much better, so thank you, everyone, for your kind messages and concern.”
It comes after Emily revealed she has shingles as she shared her painful symptoms with fans on social media. The doctor shared a candid video last Friday where she discussed her painful symptoms.
Emily penned alongside health advice in her post: “A little health update, this week I was unexpectedly diagnosed with shingles. So I thought I’d do a quick video to explain what it is, in the hope it helps raise awareness for anyone who might not be familiar.”
Wearing a pink woollen jumper, she then said in her video: “I noticed a pain and just odd sensations under my arm here and then a couple of days later the rash appeared on my back on one side.”
She continued: “It’s definitely not something I expected to be dealing with, but hopefully sharing this does raise some awareness.”
The busy mum signed off her clip: “As for me, I’m kind of hoping to start feeling better soon and back to myself.”
“I hope that as helpful, stay well everyone.”
Emily was flooded with well wishes from fans, who said: “Wishing you a very speedy recovery Emily and thankyou for the info on shingles.”
“Hope you get well soon Doc.”
“Thank you for sharing and get well soon.”
“Get well soon Emily. I have had this 3 times in the last year it’s painful.”
On Friday, Emily took to her Instagram to answer a series of common questions from her previous video. The first comment read: “Worth mentioning that you can get treatment quickly from a pharmacist in England in most cases.” Responding to the comment, Emily replied: “That is absolutely correct, and thank you so much for flagging it. If you’re over 18 and you’ve got symptoms of shingles, see your pharmacist, because if they think treatments needed, they can prescribe the same treatment that your GP would also use.”
Another comment read: “It’s funny the deep feeling of shingles stays for so long once it heals – I had it at 17 and now in my 60s and somehow I still feel tender sometimes in that area. The body really does remember. Also, I guess very important to wash hands if you have been touching it. I remember I didn’t know what it was back then and I kept touching it! It wasn’t diagnosed for a while I thought I had backne!”
Responding to the comment, Emily said: “So I wonder if you’re describing something called postherpetic neuralgia. It’s very common after you’ve had shingles, and it basically affects the area of the body where you had the shingles rash. Postherpetic neuralgia is a long-lasting pain, it usually gets better gradually, and there are treatments that can help.”
“The symptoms of it usually start while you have the shingles rash or soon after it gets better, but in some rare cases, it can actually start weeks or months after the shingles rash has gone. You also made a really good point about washing hands, now you can pass on chicken pox from shingles to somebody who’s not had chicken pox before and that’s why it’s really important not to touch the area, make sure you’re washing your hands, and don’t share things like towels etc.”
Another comment read: “Also children can still get shingles my daughter was recently diagnosed too and she’s only 10.” Responding, Emily replied: “You’re absolutely right, you can get shingles at any age, however, you should see your GP urgently or call 111 if you suspect somebody under the age of 18 has shingles.”
Another comment read: “If the babies that have the chicken pox vaccine are they still going to get shingles I wonder. Hopefully a double protection.” Emily replied: “So that’s a very good question, the vaccine has been shown to significantly reduce your risk of shingles, so it is still possible but it’s rare to get shingles after the vaccine. But if you do get it, the chances are the symptoms will be much milder.”
