Shingles

Shingles is a very painful and burning rash that could appear suddenly and doesn’t have a specific treatment.

Shingles

Shingles (herpes zoster) is a viral disease causes by the varicella-zoster virus that causes chickenpox.

Shingles occurs in about 10% of people who have had chickenpox earlier in their lives, and more than half of the cases manifest after the age of 50.

Causes of shingles

After recovering from chickenpox, the virus remains inactivated in the nervous system for years. Sometimes, this virus might be reactivated, which causes shingles.

The reason for the reactivation of the virus isn’t clear, yet there are some risk factors that increase the risk of reactivation, such as:

• Weakened immune system, like people who have AIDS, cancer, or organ transplants.
• People who have been ill.
• Traumas.
• Stress.
• Being older than 50 years old.

Symptoms of shingles

The early symptoms of the disease are:

• Fever and chills.
• Fatigue and headaches.
• Light sensitivity.

After a few days, the following symptoms start:

• Itching, burning, and tingling in the area of the affected skin.
• Redness in the area of the affected skin.
• Rash in the area of the affected skin.
• Fluid-filled blisters that open up and then scab over.
• Mild to severe pain is felt in in the area of the affected skin.
• The rash might appear as a band or patches, and it usually appears on one side of the body around the waistline, on the face, neck, chest, abdomen, or back, yet it can appear on any part of the body. The blisters usually take about 10 days to dry out and scab over, and these scabs need 2-3 weeks to wear off.
• In some cases, patients don’t get a rash at all.
• It’s critical to pay attention to the fact that the disease is contagious as long as the blisters are filled with fluid until they dry out and scab over.

Complications of shingles

• Postherpetic neuralgia: The pain from shingles could continue even after the blisters wear off.
• Neurological problems, such as encephalitis, facial paralysis, or hearing and balancing problems.
• Ophthalmic shingles might cause infections that lead to vision loss.
• Skin infections.

Diagnosis of shingles

• The doctor examines the rash and asks about the pain.
• In some cases, laboratory tests are needed.

Management of shingles

There isn’t a cure for shingles, yet the symptoms are managed by:

• Using specific antivirals and painkillers.
• Following a healthy lifestyle and exercising regularly.
• There is a vaccine for the virus that causes shingles.