Patient Information for Shingles Infection

Shingles, a viral infection, causes a painful rash and can occur anywhere on the body. Most of the time, it appears as a band of blisters that wrap around from the middle of the back to the chest on one side of the body.

Symptoms

• Symptoms include pain, burning, numbness or tingling on the affected side, followed by a red rash. The blisters that form on the body break open and crust over, then become itchy. Other symptoms include fever, chills, aches, headache and fatigue.

Causes

• Shingles is caused by the varicella-zoster virus.

  According to the Mayo Clinic, shingles is caused by the varicella-zoster virus, which also causes chickenpox. If you have ever had chickenpox you could develop shingles, as the virus enters the nervous system and stays hidden for years. It can reactivate at any point.

Complications

• The complications from shingles range from minor skin infections to a condition known as postherpetic neuralgia, in which the pain continues for a prolonged period of time. According to the Mayo Clinic, this condition occurs when damaged nerve fibers send confused and exaggerated messages of pain from your skin to your brain.

Tests

• Doctors ordinarily diagnose shingles based on the amount of pain on one side of the body or the rash and blisters that are visible. They may take a tissue scraping or a culture for the lab to examine.

Treatment

• Shingles usually clears up on its own in a few weeks, but some medications can speed the healing and ease the pain. Your physician may prescribe an antiviral drug or pain medicine.