Long after the shingles virus departs the body, many patients find themselves imprisoned by pain that has no apparent cause — a suffering that medicine has struggled to explain or relieve. Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus have now identified the hidden messenger responsible: exosomes, tiny cellular particles that reprogram nerve cells to keep transmitting pain signals indefinitely. This discovery does not yet offer a cure, but it does something equally important — it names the mechanism, and in naming it, opens the door to targeted intervention for a condition
CU researchers identify how shingles causes lasting pain, opening new treatment paths
Shingles causes severe chronic pain in affected patients that can persist long after viral infection resolves.