Jennifer Matthews: Doing crossword puzzles is how Lucille Silva used to relax. But after a bout with shingles, she couldn't sit still long enough to finish one. She had severe itching and burning on her lower back.
Lucille Silva: Even to take a shower and have the water hit the area, would make me cry. It's that bad.
Jennifer Matthews: Lucille suffers from post-herpetic neuralgia. The painful condition results when a nerve is damaged. Desperate for relief, Lucille signed up for an experimental treatment.
Dr. Michael Tuchman: It's like a raw nerve, like going to the dentist all day long, all the time, without anesthesia. It's a mess."
Jennifer Matthews: Doctor Michael Tuchman says neuralgia patients are typically treated with drugs that calm the nerve's root. New research on this medicated patch could offer an alternative. It contains a powerful dose of Capsaican -- the active ingredient in chili peppers that numbs your mouth.
Dr. Michael Tuchman: That numbness wouldn't keep you from feeling pain if somebody punched you in the nose or punched you in the mouth. You would still feel it, but there's clearly a change in sensation around the tongue and the mouth for that brief time after you eat a chili pepper.
Jennifer Matthews: Doctor Tuchman believes one hour of skin exposure to high-dose Capsaican might cause the tip of the damaged nerve to shed and regrow at the skin level. The treatment didn't eliminate Lucille's pain, but it did substantially reduce it.
Lucille Silva: It's something I feel I have to live with, not as intense at all, but it's there."
Jennifer Matthews: This is Jennifer Matthews reporting.
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