Shingles & Postherpetic Neuralgia

A Painful Rash & Long-Lasting Nerve Pain Caused by the Chickenpox Virus

Shingles Facts and Information

Shingles is aninfection caused by a re-activation of the chickenpox virus.

Over 95% of people who had chickenpox during childhood still harbor the virus in an inactive form inside some of their nerve cells. An estimated 1 in 3 people eventually experience a reawakening of the virus and develop shingles in adulthood.

Shingles creates a painful rash with many small blisters arranged in a stripe pattern.

What Triggers Shingles?

Shingles is common in people whose immune systems are weakened by stress, disease, or advanced age. Ideally, these people receive chickenpox booster vaccinations in order to reduce the risk for shingles. Unfortunately, a vaccine does not always prevent outbreaks.

Symptoms of Shingles and Postherpetic Neuralgia

Pain is the tell-tale sign before a Shingles outbreak. The pain appears on one side of the body, and it usually affects one of the following areas:

• Torso
• Neck and shoulder
• Face
• Scalp

After a couple of days, the painful area becomes covered in a red rash. Then, blisters start to appear.

Other Shingles symptoms include:

• Skin that is sensitive to touch
• Pain, burning, numbness, tingling, itching
• Fluid-filled blisters that break open and crust over
• General symptoms like fever, headache, sensitivity to light

Most cases of shingles last 2-4 weeks. For most people, the pain improves once the blisters dry up.

However, roughly 2 out of 10 people develop long-lasting nerve pain (Postherpetic neuralgia) that may last for months or even years. People with Postherpetic neuralgia experience unpleasant burning sensations that last long after the rash and blisters of shingles are gone.