Surviving Herpes Zoster in Bangkok
Skin Inflammations Can Be Worrying - But Do Not Despair
Living in a foreign city and suffering from a sudden outbreak of herpse zoster (shingles)? Here is what to expect and how to deal with it.
Herpes zoster – also known as ‘shingles’ – can be an upsetting condition to suffer from because it can lead to a sudden, unsightly eruption of the skin all over the face. Combined with swelling of one or both eyes until they close, the patient can soon feel like a version of the Elephant Man. This condition is worse in a city such as Bangkok, with its climate that makes the complexion more ruddy than normal anyway and the dust and pollution can irritate the skin at the best of times. Perhaps worse is the habit of Bangkokians to stare at the disfigured face, out of nothing more malicious than open curiosity. Foreigners often attract interested gazes in any case, diseased foreigners are some of the most fascinating things around.
Thai people are likely to consider a medical condition that changes someone’s appearance to be particularly serious and worrisome, irrespective of medical reality (and very few people have any meaningful medical knowledge). There is also the problem that, given the popular understanding of Buddhism around the city, people suffering from misfortune have probably brought it on themselves through committing some act accumulating bad karma. How much worse must the bad karma be if it has resulted in an inflammation of the face, which everybody can see!
It is very difficult to avoid this situation since most foreigners in Bangkok have jobs which feature intensive personal interaction of one sort or another. The need for cross-cultural communication in nearly all jobs means that face-to-face time with co-workers is important if not vital. The diseased visage turns out to be a serious inhibitor to understanding, since other people are more interested in staring than listening – not everyone, of course but enough to cause additional stress to the affected person.
Fortunately, medical services in Bangkok these days are both efficient, well-organized and well-supplied. Most large hospitals have staff whose principal job is to speak English and act as customer liaison. Simply walk into a convenient modern hospital and go straight to the reception desk. Point to the affected area and say ‘doctor, please.’ Patients will be accompanied to the relevant section and, usually, a doctor will be made available in 20-30 minutes (numbers always vary depending on the time of day and unpredictable factors) and laboratory tests can be done straight away. Within an hour, the patient will be standing at the cashier’s station (always the longest wait is for the cashier) to pay the bill for attention and pharmacy – herpes can be comparatively expensive to treat so expect to pay up to $250. If this is a problem, ask the doctor to prescribe cheaper (non-American) medicine. Then, expect the medicine to do its work in a week to ten days. And in Bangkok, if all else fails, smile.
