Had Ulcerative Collitis And Got Shingles. Should I Be Worried About These Problems?

Posted on Tue, 24 Jul 2012

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 Answered on

Tue, 14 Aug 2012 Last reviewed on

Question : My daughter had ulcerative collitis very badly about 10 years ago (was on the point of having a colostomy bag but careful nursing managed to pull her back from that - was on a very bland diet for over six months and managed to control it. Since then has had two bouts of pyoderma gangrenosum - one very bad, one which was controlled to just one place. She has now got shingles. Should she be worried about it developing into p.g.?

Answered by Dr. Dinesh Kumar Singal (12 hours later)

Dear XXXXXX

Thanks for contacting Healthcare Magic,

Pyoderma gangrenosum usually occurs in association with active ulcerative colitis. It is a complication of ulcarative colitis that manfiests on skin. It can occur rarely with inactive disease also.

If you are sure that now she has shingles, which is skin infection with herpes Zoster virus, then it is very unlikely to develop into pyoderma gangrenosum. I think you should not be worried regarding this aspect.

Hope this helps you.

Best wishes,

Dr Dinesh Singal

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar