Shingles

Shingles (Herpes zoster) is a painful, blistering, itchy skin rash caused by Varicella zoster, the same virus that causes chicken pox.

This virus can remain dormant for years, to reactivate later - even decades later - in about 20% of adults who had the itchy disease as a child.

As the body recovers from this common childhood ailment, the sores and symptoms disappear while the virus can live on, indefinitely, in nerve cells in the spine.

How it can remain latent and what makes it reactivate are questions that have not been fully answered.

It is unusual to have the pain without the blisters, or the blisters without the pain.

In some instances, the pain may be severe enough or prolonged enough to require physician-prescribed painkillers.

The rash begins as redness, then blisters form that concentrate in that same red area. The rash follows the path of the nerve affected by the virus.

Since only one nerve is involved in most cases, only one side of the body exhibits the symptoms. The trunk is the area most commonly affected, followed by the face and neck (including the eye, tongue, ear, etc.) - and lastly the lower body and legs.

The rash quite often clears on its own in a few weeks and seldom recurs. Cool compresses generally provide soothing relief and pain relievers can help ease discomfort.

In chronic cases where residual nerve pain is experienced for months or years, a condition called postherpetic neuralgia, antiviral drug treatment may reduce the severity and duration of the Herpes zoster virus.

Andy Rooney

credit: OSU.MD

More information about shingles:

Are they contagious?

Causes

Postherpetic neuralgia and other complications

Symptoms

Treatment