Symptoms and Causes of Shingles

What is shingles?

Shingles is a virus that induces a painful, blistering rash. The varicella-zoster virus, which also causes chickenpox, is responsible for its formation. 

Typically on one side of the body, either on the face, chest, back, belly, or pelvis, the shingles rash progresses into painful blisters that may also be irritating. The settling process might take many weeks. You need to understand the symptoms and causes of shingles so that you can seek immediate treatment.

One in ten people gets shingles discomfort and tingling that lasts for months or even years. The medical word for this is post-herpetic neuralgia.

What are the symptoms of shingles?

You need to watch out for the symptoms and causes of shingles. Here is a list of symptoms of shingles:

• Pain
• a burning, tingling or itching sensation
• a stabbing sensation
• sensitivity to touch
• The bodily part that is being impacted feels numb.
• sensitivity to light
• fever and/or headache
• fatigue

A painful rash will form on the delicate patch of the skin two to three days after these symptoms start to manifest, often on one side of the body near one cutaneous nerve. (called a dermatome).

This rash starts out as uncomfortable red pimples that swiftly transform into fluid-filled blisters that eventually acquire a crusty covering. The rash may last for ten to fifteen days.

What causes shingles?

Anyone who has had chickenpox before is vulnerable to shingles. In the nerve cells near the spine, the chickenpox virus is still latent. When the virus reactivates, shingles develop.

Although shingles can strike at any age, most people who get them are over 40. One in three persons who have not received the chicken pox or shingles vaccine may have shingles at some point in their lifetime. Frequently, there is no recognised cause of shingles. It is more probable to happen if you:

• are aged 60 or older
• are experiencing physical and emotional stress
• have HIV and AIDS
• have had an organ transplant
• just underwent a bone marrow transplant
• have a disease that necessitates immunosuppressive therapy, such as chemotherapy for cancer

Typically, shingles only occur once in a person’s lifetime. But occasionally, especially if your immune system is compromised, you can get recurrent infections. It is impossible to contract shingles from someone who already has it. If you have never had chickenpox, you can get it by directly touching the fluid from someone who has shingles’ blisters.