Shingles

Shingles, also called herpes zoster, is a viral infection you can only get if you’ve had chickenpox. After you recover from chickenpox, the varicella-zoster virus stays inactive in your body. For most people, the virus stays quiet for the rest of their lives. If it becomes active again, you can develop shingles.

Shingles causes you to break out in a painful rash or blisters anywhere on your body. For most people, the band of rashes or blisters appear in one location. They may look like a stripe on your left or right side.

Roughly 1 million Americans experience shingles every year. About 10 percent of people who’ve had chickenpox will develop shingles sometime during their lives. Pain from shingles can be severe, but fortunately, the condition is rarely life-threatening.

Reactivation of the varicella-zoster virus in your body causes shingles. The virus frequently reactivates during times of extreme stress. Unlike chickenpox, you can get shingles more than once. If you get a second breakout, your rash or blisters will likely appear in a different spot.

You cannot get shingles if you’re simply around someone who has shingles. But, if you’ve never had chickenpox, you can get that condition from someone with shingles. Then, you might develop shingles later in life.

Shingles spreads in two ways:

• Breathing in virus particles from shingles blisters
• Direct contact with fluid from the rash or blisters

If you have shingles, you can spread the virus to other people until your rash or blisters scab over. This process usually takes between 7 to 10 days.

Anyone who has had chickenpox can get shingles. But some people are at higher risk. These individuals:

• Are over age 50
• Are under stress
• Have a weakened immune system (from cancer treatment, organ transplant or other viruses)
• Have been sick
• Have experienced physical trauma that activates the virus

Because the same virus causes shingles and chickenpox, these conditions have the same symptoms. Early signs include:

• Chills
• Fatigue
• Fever
• Headache
• Light sensitivity
• Upset stomach

After a few days, you will experience these signs in a specific spot of your skin:

• An itchy, tingling or burning feeling
• Fluid-filled blisters that burst open and scab over
• Mild-to-severe pain
• Raised rash
• Redness

It takes three to five weeks for shingles to run its course from the first signs until the rash and blisters scab over. During this time, you will experience:

• Pain, itching or burning develop for a few days and linger through your illness.
• A raised rash develops as a band or patch on one side of your body (around your waist or on your face, chest or stomach).
• Painful, red, fluid-filled blisters develop within three to four days.
• Blisters burst, dry out and scab over within 10 days.
• Scabs heal and disappear within two to three weeks.

To diagnose you, our expert providers will ask if you’ve had chickenpox. They will look to see if your rash or blisters appear as a band on one side of your body. If our providers need more information, they may send a sample of the rash or blisters to the lab for analysis.

There is no cure for shingles. However, our providers can offer treatments to manage and control your symptoms.

Anti-viral medication

Anti-viral treatment within 72 hours of the first signs of shingles can help reduce your pain and shorten your illness. It can also prevent pain from shingles (called postherpetic neuralgia) that can appear several years later.

Pain medication

Shingles can trigger severe pain.

Over-the-counter medication

Our providers may suggest non-prescription pain relievers, such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen, to alleviate discomfort.

Although the rash, blisters and pain from shingles disappear within a few weeks, other complications are possible. You may experience:

• Postherpetic neuralgia. This condition is the most common shingles complication. It occurs when damaged nerve fibers send confused pain signals to your brain. These signals cause shingles-related pain to linger after the rash and blisters heal. Up to 30 percent of people can experience postherpetic neuralgia. Our providers may suggest pain-relieving lotions, medications or nerve blocks to reduce pain.
• Neurological problems. Shingles can lead to balance problems, brain swelling (encephalitis), facial paralysis and hearing problems.
• Skin infections. Without proper shingles treatment, you can develop bacterial skin infections.
• Vision loss. If shingles appear around your eye, you can develop eye infections that lead to vision loss.

Getting the shingles vaccine is the best way to prevent shingles. You can also reduce your risk for developing shingles by adopting these healthy lifestyle behaviors:

• Avoid smoking or tobacco products
• Eat a healthy diet
• Exercise regularly
• Maintain a healthy weight
• Reduce stress (try meditation or yoga)
• Sleep between seven and nine hours a night