Should I See A Doctor For Shingles
It is usually worth seeing a doctor to be certain about the diagnosis and to see if you need treatment or not. Ideally you should see a doctor as soon as possible after the rash appears.
The rash of shingles can be very painful. So even if the doctor doesn’t think you need an anti-shingles medicine, they may be able to give you stronger painkillers than those you can buy over the counter from the chemist.
What Shingles Symptoms Come Next
After about 1 to 5 days, a shingles rash will appear on one side of the body, often in a single characteristic band around one side of the torso or face.
The painful rash will then form itchy or burning blister-like sores filled with a clear fluid. The blisters will scab over in 7 to 10 days. Theyll gradually grow smaller before disappearing.
Shingles rash symptoms commonly last between 2 to 4 weeks.
Who Is At Risk For Getting Shingles
People who have had chickenpox who are more likely to develop shingles include those:
- With a weakened immune system .
- Over the age of 50.
- Who have been ill.
- Who have experienced trauma.
- Who are under stress.
The chickenpox virus doesnt leave your body after you have chickenpox. Instead, the virus stays in a portion of your spinal nerve root called the dorsal root ganglion. For the majority of people, the virus stays there quietly and doesn’t cause problems. Researchers aren’t always sure why the virus gets reactivated, but this typically occurs at times of stress.
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Check If You Have Shingles
The first signs of shingles can be:
- a tingling or painful feeling in an area of skin
- a headache or feeling generally unwell
A rash will appear a few days later.
Usually you get the shingles rash on your chest and tummy, but it can appear anywhere on your body including on your face, eyes and genitals.
The rash appears as blotches on your skin, on 1 side of your body only. A rash on both the left and right of your body is unlikely to be shingles.
What Problems Can Happen
Most cases of shingles heal on their own, with or without treatment, and wont lead to any other problems. In rare cases, shingles can lead to complications, including:
- Ongoing pain : Damaged nerve fibers in the skin send confused messages to the brain, leading to pain. Pain can go on for a long time after the shingles rash is gone. This is the most common shingles complication.
- Vision problems: Shingles near or in an eye can lead to vision loss.
- Skin infections: A shingles rash can become infected with bacteria, leading to impetigo or cellulitis.
- Nervous system problems: Shingles on the face can involve different nerves that connect to the brain. This can lead to nerve-related problems such as facial paralysis, hearing problems, and problems with balance. In very rare cases, shingles can lead to encephalitis .
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Key Points About Shingles
- Shingles is a common viral infection of the nerves. It causes a painful rash or small blisters on an area of skin.
- Shingles is caused when the chickenpox virus is reactivated.
- It is more common in people with weakened immune systems, and in people over the age of 50.
- Shingles starts with skin sensitivity, tingling, itching, and/or pain followed by rash that looks like small, red spots that turn into blisters.
- The rash is typically affects just one area on one side of the body or face.
- Treatment that is started as soon as possible helps reduce the severity of the disease.
Shingles Symptoms: The Rash
The rash associated with herpes zoster begins as small blisters in a reddish background. New blisters form for the next few days, usually 3 to 5 days. Blisters emerge in a path of individual nerves in a specific ray-like distribution called a dermatomal pattern. Blisters tend to break out in a band-like pattern over an area of skin.
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What Does A Mild Case Of Shingles Look Like
Not everyone with shingles will develop a blistering rash. A mild case of shingles may include a red rash without blisters. The shingles rash and blisters are distinct characteristics of the illness. Mild cases of shingles do not usually cause headaches, fever, or fatigue.
Whether mild or severe, pain is the most common symptom of shingles. Most people describe a deep burning, throbbing, or stabbing sensation. The pain usually subsides within 30 days.
How Is Shingles Diagnosed
Your healthcare provider will do a complete physical exam and ask about your medical history, specifically about whether you have ever had chickenpox.
Your healthcare provider will likely know right away that it is shingles based on the unique rash. The rash usually appears one area on one side of the body or face. It appears as red spots, small fluid- or pus-filled vesicles, or scabs.
The healthcare provider may also take skin scrapings for testing.
Health Check Certified By: Dr. Gerald Morris
- More than 1 million Americans suffer from shingles each year.
- Shingles can sometimes be hard to identify because it often mimics other conditions such as poison ivy or scabies.
- Some telling signs of shingles include blisters, itching, headache, fever, chills, and extreme fatigue.
- If you suspect you have shingles, contact your doctor right away.
Each year more than 1 million Americans suffer from shingles, an itchy, blistering rash caused by herpes zoster, which is the same viral infection that afflicts the nerve roots and causes chickenpox. In fact, those whove had chickenpox can end up with shingles years later due to the fact that the infection can live dormant and become active again due to mounting age, lowered immunity, a medical treatment or medication that suppresses immunity, or an infection .
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Is Shingles Contagious
If you are in contact with someone who has shingles, you will not get the symptoms of shingles yourself. However, direct contact with fluid from a shingles rash can still spread the varicella-zoster virus, which can cause chickenpox in people who have not had chickenpox before or the chickenpox vaccine. The risk of spreading the virus is low if the shingles rash is kept covered.
How Is It Treated
It is best to start treatment as soon as possible after you notice the rash. See your healthcare provider to discuss treatment with antiviral medicine, such as acyclovir. This medicine is most effective if you start taking it within the first 3 days of the rash. Antiviral medicine may speed your recovery and lessen the chance that the pain will last for a long time.
Your provider may also recommend or prescribe:
- medicine for pain
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Serious Symptoms That Might Indicate Complications Of Shingles
In some cases, shingles can affect the nerves of the face, eyes, or ears and cause serious symptoms and complications, such as facial paralysis or impaired vision and hearing. Get prompt medical care if you, or someone you are with, have symptoms of shingles, particularly the following symptoms or conditions:
- painful, widespread rash, a symptom of disseminated shingles
- weakened immune system caused by a chronic condition or immune-suppressing medications
- rash near your eyes or involving the tip of the nose
If You Get The Shingles Vaccine Does This Mean Youre 100% Protected From Getting Shingles
No. Just like most vaccines, getting vaccinated with a shingles vaccine doesnt provide 100% protection from disease. However, getting the shingles vaccine reduces your risk of developing shingles.
Even if you do develop shingles, youll be more likely to have a mild case. Also, youll be much less likely to develop postherpetic neuralgia, a painful condition that can follow a shingles outbreak.
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Shingles Linked To Stroke Heart Attack
Not only do shingles flare-ups hurt, research says they can increase your short-term risk of heart attack and stroke following the virus outbreak.
Shingles was found to raise the risk of stroke by 35% and the risk of heart attack by nearly 60%, according to a study of more than half a million people. The risk of stroke was highest in those under age 40.
Its been known for a while now that zoster causes stroke, said Dr. Gwen Wigand-Bolling, an internist at . The inflammation it creates causes heart attack and stroke, and shingles causes increased blood clotting in the arteries, she added.
The risks of both stroke and heart attack were highest in the first year after the onset of shingles and decreases with time, researchers said.
Shingles: Symptoms Causes Prevention And Treatment
Health Check Certified By: Dr. Gerald Morris
- More than 1 million Americans suffer from shingles each year.
- Shingles can sometimes be hard to identify because it often mimics other conditions such as poison ivy or scabies.
- Some telling signs of shingles include blisters, itching, headache, fever, chills, and extreme fatigue.
- If you suspect you have shingles, contact your doctor right away.
Each year more than 1 million Americans suffer from shingles, an itchy, blistering rash caused by herpes zoster, which is the same viral infection that afflicts the nerve roots and causes chickenpox. In fact, those whove had chickenpox can end up with shingles years later due to the fact that the infection lives dormant in the body. It can become active and again with age, lowered immunity, a medical treatment or medication that suppresses immunity, or an infection .
The issue with shingles is that it often mimics other conditions, such as poison ivy or scabies, with similar uncomfortable symptoms. However, there are a few telling signs that give shingles away, including
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What Types Of Health Care Professionals Treat Shingles
Shingles are most commonly diagnosed and treated by a primary care physician or an emergency medicine physician. For certain individuals who develop complications of shingles, a specialist in ophthalmology, neurology, or infectious disease may also be involved. Select patients with postherpetic neuralgia may require the care of a pain specialist.
Timeline Of Shingles Symptoms
Shingles actually doesn’t occur without a prior chickenpox infection. VZV lies dormant in nerve roots after you recover where it can reactivate years later, returning as shingles. But though they share the same viral cause, the two conditions are distinct.
The first sign of shingles is usually a burning or stinging sensation in a band-like formation around the waist, chest, stomach, or back.
You may experience itching or become incredibly sensitive to even the softest touch. The weight of bed sheets on your skin may be uncomfortable. You may also experience fatigue, fever, and headache.
After a few days or even up to a couple of weeks, the telltale shingles rash will appear. This rash consists of fluid-filled blisters that worsen quickly. The blisters may look like chickenpox, but they are clustered together.
The shingles rash can vary in color, depending on your skin tone. On darker skin, the rash may be pink, grayish, dark brown, or even purple. On lighter skin, it will be red.
This is the stage at which VZV can be passed on to someone who has never had or been vaccinated against chickenpox.
Blisters typically scab over within a week to 10 days. Shingles typically takes three to five weeks to progress through all of its stages.
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Where A Shingles Rash Forms
A shingles rash typically occurs on the face, neck, or chest, on just one side of the body.
The affected area of skin is called a dermatome, a region supplied by the sensory fibers of a specific spinal nerve. Outbreaks can involve two adjacent dermatomes, but rarely two non-adjacent dermatomes.
The exception may be in people whose immune systems are severely comprised, such as those with advanced HIV infection. They’re often at risk of disseminated shingles , shingles of the eyes or internal organs, and a recurrence of shingles within six months.
Who Should Not Get The Shingles Vaccine
You should not get Shingrix if you:
- Have ever had a severe allergic reaction to any ingredient in the vaccine or after a dose of Shingrix
- Are not immune to the virus that causes chickenpox if you test negative for immunity, youll need to get the chickenpox vaccine
- Currently have shingles
- Are pregnant or breastfeeding
If youre sick and have a fever of 101.3°F or higher, youll need to wait until youre feeling better to get the shingles vaccine.
Side effects are usually mild and go away in a few days. They may include:
- Pain, swelling, or redness where the shot was given
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Why Does Shingles Appear Mostly On One Side Or In One Area Of The Body
The virus travels in specific nerves, so you will often see shingles occur in a band on one side of the body. This band corresponds to the area where the nerve transmits signals. The shingles rash stays somewhat localized to an area it does not spread over your whole body. The torso is a common area, as is the face.
What Are The Symptoms Of Shingles
Usually, shingles develops on just one side of the body or face, and in a small area. The most common place for shingles to occur is in a band around one side of the waistline.
Most people with shingles have one or more of the following symptoms:
- Fluid-filled blisters
- Tingling, itching, or numbness of the skin
- Chills, fever, headache, or upset stomach
For some people, the symptoms of shingles are mild. They might just have some itching. For others, shingles can cause intense pain that can be felt from the gentlest touch or breeze. Its important to talk with your doctor if you notice any shingles symptoms.
If you notice blisters on your face, see your doctor right away because this is an urgent problem. Blisters near or in the eye can cause lasting eye damage and blindness. Hearing loss, a brief paralysis of the face, or, very rarely, inflammation of the brain can also occur.
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How Long Will The Effects Last
The rash from shingles will heal in 1 to 3 weeks and the pain or irritation will usually go away in 3 to 5 weeks. When shingles occurs on the head or scalp, the symptoms usually go away eventually, but it may take many months.
If the virus damages a nerve, you may have pain, numbness, or tingling for months or even years after the rash is healed. This is called postherpetic neuralgia. This chronic condition is most likely to occur after a shingles outbreak in people over 50 years old. Taking antiviral medicine as soon as the shingles is diagnosed may help prevent this problem.
Can Shingles Be Spread To Others
A person with a shingles rash can pass the virus to someone, usually a child, who has never had chickenpox, but the child will develop chickenpox, not shingles. The child must come into direct contact with the open sores of the shingles rash during the blistering phase. Once the rash has developed crusts, the person is no longer contagious.
Merely being in the same room with a shingles patient will not cause the child to catch chickenpox because during a shingles infection the virus is not normally in the lungs and therefore cant be spread through the air.
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What Are The Stages Of Shingles Symptoms
There are no formal, clinical stages of shingles, but symptoms generally fall into three stages. Beginning to end, shingles can last 24 weeks.
Contact your doctor right away if you have symptoms of shingles. Early treatment with antiviral medication may help lessen the severity, speed recovery time, and lower the potential for complications.
Risk Factors Of Shingles
Anyone who has had wild-type varicella zoster virus , also known as chickenpox, is at risk of developing shingles. This also applies to those whove had the varicella vaccination. Your increase for hospitalization due to shingles rises after the age of 50. Its also highly contagious, so be aware if youve interacted with anyone that may have shingles.
Those living with certain conditions that compromise their immune system gave an increased risk of getting shingles. This includes cancer, human immunodeficiency virus , bone marrow or solid organ transplant recipient, and anyone taking immunosuppressive medications.
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Can Infection With Vzv During Pregnancy Harm The Baby
Many mothers-to-be are concerned about any infection contracted during pregnancy. Some infections can be transmitted to the baby either across the mothers bloodstream to the fetus or during the birth process. Chickenpox virus infection during pregnancy poses some risk to the unborn child, depending upon the stage of pregnancy. During the first 30 weeks, maternal chickenpox may, in some cases, lead to congenital malformations. Such cases are rare and experts differ in their opinions on how great the risk is. Most experts agree that shingles in a pregnant woman, a rare event, is even less likely to cause harm to the unborn child.
If a pregnant woman gets chickenpox between 21 to 5 days before giving birth, her newborn can have chickenpox at birth or develop it within a few days. But the time lapse between the start of the mothers illness and the birth of the baby generally allows the mothers immune system to react and produce antibodies to fight the virus. These antibodies can be transmitted to the unborn child and help fight the infection. Still, a small percent of the babies exposed to chickenpox in the 21 to 5 days before birth develop shingles in the first 5 years of life because the newborns immune system is not yet fully functional.